Firestorm
by jinx777
Summary: No way back, no Chakra and no one to help him. Naruto ends up in the world of Remnant alone and disillusioned with both his old and new world, see what happened when Naruto stops trying to fight for piece after he lost everything important to him, and embraces the life of a Ninja in a world full of monster. Being Rewritten under the name, 'The Grimm'.
1. Shattered Dream

**Hey, so a friend recently bugged me enough to get me to watch RWBY, I had been avoiding it for a while because I am usually not a fan of the CGI style. But I finally gave in, and found I actually liked it, and after reading a few fics this idea started to form in my head.**

**I know I have other stories that haven't been updated, but I can't help it, when a new idea gets stuck into my head I just have to get it out. Most of the time they never get passed the first chapter, and are deleted before a second comes out, but sometimes one will stick in my head like this one has.**

**The Naruto in this fic will be a little serious and grey, though not outright 'kill a baby for the fun of it' dark, and bitter. Whether that will change later on or not I am not sure at the moment, I will see how it writes. He will be a sort of mercenary, not unlike a ninja is anyway, for hire with little care about who he works for. He will also lose his chakra and have it replaced with Aura, I already know what I want his Semblance to be, though I am not sure of he will have a weapon.**

**This will be a Naruto/Cinder pairing, even if he turns over a new leaf, but again that might not happen. I'm not sure on her age in the RWBY universe, but in this fic I am placing her at 18, after all she is able to pass off as a student in the second season, so she can't be too old.**

**Naruto will be sixteen when he first enters the RWBY universe, not sure if that is right in canon but in this fic it is, and will arrive about two years before the start of season 1.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing:(**

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Summary: The fight with Kaguya didn't end so well, in her last moments before her defeat, the Rabbit Goddess was able to open a rip in dimensions. Being the closest to it before the last attack, Naruto was sucked into it, trapping him in the world of Remnant. Have lost everyone he cared about, his home and even his chakra, Naruto turns bitter and cold as he creates a new life for himself in this new world of soulless monsters, animal/human hybrids, and Dust. Ranted M for violence.

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Chapter 1- Shattered Dream

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The last thing Naruto remembered before arriving in his current location was the glaring eyes of Kaguya as his hand hit her, a mix of anger, sadness and betrayal on her face as he and Sasuke were finally able to seal her away again. If it wasn't for the fact she was bat-shit insane and trying to enslave the world, he would have felt sorry for here, but that was neither here nor there.

After that there had been a pulling sensation, not unlike the one he had experienced in his fight with Pain, and the next thing he knew his world had turned black and full of pain. It was as if he was floating in water, boiling water, and instead of water it was boiling acid. It felt like something was being pulled out of his body, very slowly, very _painfully_.

Naruto could breathe, though it hurt every time he pulled in a breath as if liquid fire was being poured down his throat, but every time he tried to open his eyes there was nothing but darkness. He was still being pulled by some invisible force, he could feel it even through the pain, but couldn't tell if it was dragging him up, down or any other direction.

Then it was like he hit some kind of wall.

The pain stopped all at once, his body suddenly feeling almost…empty, as the last of whatever was been pulled from him was taken. It was an odd experience, feeling so empty, yet knowing nothing was actually wrong with his body, Naruto felt cold without whatever it was he was now missing.

That didn't last long as, feeling like he hit another wall, a new wave of pain filled him. But this time instead of something being sucked out, he could feel something different being sucked _in_. It filled his body to the brim, filling every inch, every cell of his being, and when he was full just kept going. Through the pain Naruto was just able to wonder why he hadn't exploded yet, because surly whatever was being forced into him, his body wouldn't be able to take much more.

But then he hit his third, or was it forth, and final wall and the pain was gone.

He opened his eyes to see a clear night sky through a thin canopy of trees, full of stars he didn't recognise and a broken moon, his body feeling numb after everything he had just experienced.

Having been taught how to use the stars in the sky to help locate his passion if ever lost by Iruka when he was at the academy, and being familiar with the feeling of being summoned even if it took longer and was painful, it only took Naruto about ten seconds to realise he was not in the Elemental Nations. Not only did he not recognise any of the star constellations, but the moon, while broken, was at least three times larger than the one he was used to.

Groaning, wanting nothing more than to just lay on what he could only assume based on the ruff and uneven surface was the ground, Naruto slowly forced himself into a sitting position. His muscles ached from the small movement, though whether that was from what he had just experienced or the from fighting before that he wasn't sure, and forced him to grit his teeth to stop himself from gasping.

He took a moment to examine his surroundings, confirming that he was indeed in a forest, but he didn't recognise the trees. They were tall, as tall as some of the trees that surrounded his village, but were also a lot finer and he branches didn't seem to stretch as far as the ones back home. If he had to guess they would be able to support his weight for tree hopping, but only as long as he kept moving, some of the thicker branches should be able to hold his weight without braking though.

There was also the fact that everything seemed to be very dull, from the trees to the ground, almost all colours seemed duller then he was used to. The leaves in the trees were green, though a lot duller then they should be in his mind, along with the grass he was sitting on. Everything just seemed a little dull to his eyes, as if the colours of the world had been slowly bled out, a disturbing thought.

After making sure he wasn't about to be attacked, Naruto finally took the time to examine his own body. His clothes were all but destroyed, his shirt and jacket were a lost cause and were hanging off in little more than rags, though his pants seemed to have thankfully held up better than the rest. The cloth from his headband was useless, though the metal plate was fine, and his sandals were nowhere to be seen, leaving him barefoot.

He quickly slipped his headband into his kunai pouch for safe keeping.

His actually body seemed to be fine, in about the same condition it was before he was sucked into whatever had brought him here, other than the stiffness.

Letting out a tired sigh as he slowly ran a hand over his face, Naruto forced his body to stand up, and after taking a moment to stretch the kinks out of his muscles ran towards the closest tree with the intention of getting a better view of his surroundings from the top. His feet hitting the bark, Naruto had only took four steps before his eyes widened and he fell back to the ground with a dull thud.

Frowning, rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the ground, Naruto got back to his feet and stared at the tree he had attempted run up. Slowly lifting his right foot up and placing it on the tree, Naruto tried to focus his chakra into his foot to make it stick, only for his eyes to widen again.

Instead of sticking like it was supposed to, Naruto's foot started to actually glow, as some kind of grey energy that was definitely _not_ chakra coated it. He could feel that it moved like charka, at least to some extent, but the actual _feel_ was different. He didn't know how to describe it, whatever this new energy was, it wasn't chakra.

His frown increasing, Naruto quickly moved his hands into his most used, closing his eyes for a moment in silent prayer.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu"

Nothing happened…

No loud popping sound, no burst of smoke, and no solid copy of himself.

The only thing that actually happened was that his hands started glowing lick his foot had, with the same pale grey energy, before fading when he stopped trying to push chakra into them. Starting to panic at this point, Naruto sat down in a meditative passion on the floor, his hands held in the basic seal for concentration as he closed his eyes and tried to find his chakra.

It wasn't there…any of it…

There wasn't a drop of chakra in his entire body, all he could feel was the strange new energy…

He tried entering his mindscape, hoping Kurama would be able to explain what was happening to him, but after ten minutes nothing had happened. Because the fox wasn't there anymore…he couldn't feel its chakra either. He was about to give up hope when, out of the corner of his mental awareness he felt something, something moving in the back of his mind.

His hope raising, Naruto quickly latched onto it, hoping it was his friend.

It wasn't, just more of the strange energy, but at least this time he was able to feel something familiar from it. It took him a few minutes before he realised it felt almost like his wind chakra affinity, the way it moved, the way it felt was almost the same.

Still hoping it might be a led back to his chakra somehow Naruto followed the feeling to its source, which to his mind's eye looked like a hurricane of grey wind, before jumping in without a second thought. The moment he entered the mental hurricane, Naruto's eyes snapped back open as something loud started roaring in his ears, and he felt something tugging at his body.

Only for them to widen in shock when he saw that he was now sat in the middle of a hurricane, the forest round him completely destroyed in every direction for about a hundred meter radius from where he was sitting. Trees had been uprooted, boulders burred underground ripping from the earth, and all of it flying around him trapped in the impossibly strong wind.

But the moment he became aware of what was happening around him, the wind stopped, and everything fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Eyes still wide, his breath coming in slightly panicked pants, Naruto turned his back on the destruction and ran without thinking. Just wanting to put as much distance between himself and the new clearing he had created as possible.

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Naruto didn't know how long he was actually running, where he was even going, or how long he ran for. All he knew was that he needed to get away. The fact that he was still able to move as fast and for as long as he normally could was a relief, with everything else happening Naruto had been worried he would be stuck at a civilian pace.

But as look would have it, sometime after the sun had replaced the broken moon and was high in the sky overhead, Naruto suddenly realised that he could see something in the distance that looked like a village. At least he thought it was a village until he got closer, because as he ran towards it the building seemed to just get bigger and bigger, and the whole thing was larger than any village he had ever seen.

It looked to be almost four times the size of the Leaf Village, and almost all of the buildings were taller than the Hokage tower, and seemed to be the same square shape. It almost looked like the people who built the place had started to just stack new buildings on top of others after they realised it was getting too big or something.

Then there was the fact that he seemed to be stood in some kind if ruin.

While most of the buildings seemed to be intact, several had large chunks missing out of them, and he could see weeks and vines starting to make their move and most of the windows he could see were shattered. The roads, while not simple dirt like he was used to, were creaked and had chunks of stone and glass scattered everywhere. Then there was the lack of people, no one was anywhere to be seen or heard in the entire village.

He would go so far as to say they were ancient ruins, but it was clear the place had been abandoned a long time ago, and based on the damage Naruto didn't think it had been voluntary. This place had clearly been attacked, and all the people living in it had either been killed or evacuated, he could only hope it was the second option.

Before Naruto had any more time to take in the sights around him, his thoughts were interrupted by a deep, low growling sound coming from behind him. So spinning on the ball of his right foot and getting into a low stance, the blonde ninja locked his eyes on something at the other end of the street he was stood.

It looked like some king of weir bipedal wolf covered in black fur, with white bone armour growing in mostly random place over it body. It was hunched over, though even then it still looked over a head taller than him, leaning forward on slightly too long arms. Its head was covered by a bane mask with read patterns, glowing red light come from the eyeholes instead of eyes, and had bone spikes forming a ridge along its back, forearms and one in each back knee.

Even though it didn't have normal eyes, Naruto could tell that it was glaring at him, its teeth bared and claws digging small trenches into the ground.

Without taking his eyes away from the creature, Naruto moved his right hand towards his kunai pouch, only to cures silently when he found it empty, having used everything he had before coming to wherever this place was. He was unarmed, lost, had no chakra and was able to be attacked by a giant wolf thing…how could this get any worse?

Not five second after this thought crossed his mind, three more wolf creatures appeared around a corner to join the first…apparently they hunted in packs…crap.

Gulping, not daring to take his eyes off of the creatures for even a second when he didn't know how fast they could move, Naruto widened his stance slightly in preparation for the fight. It seemed this movement was all the four wolves needed, and with a deep howl from the first that was quickly followed by the others, they charged at him.

They were fast, closing the distance between them and him in less than ten seconds, but not too fast that Naruto couldn't keep up with them. The moment the first wolf was within rang the blonde ninja jumped up, his foot whipping out, and connected with its bone like masked face. The creature was sent flying back and into the wolf behind it, knocking them both down, out of the fight for a moment.

The next wolf, instead of charging straight at him, stopped just out of his rang and used its longer forearms to its advantage. It swiped at him, the white claws barely missing his skin as he stepped back, but unfortunately it was at that moment the fact his feet were bare came back to bite him in the arse. His left foot landed on a piece of shatter glass, cutting into it and getting stuck, forcing the blonde to release a small grunt of pain.

Before he could even think of pulling the shard out, he was hit in the side by a backhanded strike from the wolf creature, sending him into the side of a building where his body left a dent. Quickly shaking his head, Naruto recovered just in time to roll out of the way of the fourth wolf's claws, the creature having tried to take advantage of his momentary daze and jumped forward.

Getting to his feet, making sure not to put any weight on his left foot as he leaned against the wall behind him, Naruto glared at the four wolves as the two from before finally recovered and moved to join the others. They were clearing trying to box him in, and with his injured foot, it was working.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto bent down and ripped the shard of glass from his foot, grunting in pain. It was actually larger then he was expecting, just large enough to use as a weapon, and fix in the palm of his hand. Which was just as well, because in the time it had taken him to pull it out of his foot, one of the wolves had jumped forward.

Waiting until the last moment so that it would be in rang, his hand bleeding from the tight grip he had on the glass cutting his hand, Naruto stabbed the sharp end of the shard into the side of the wolf's head just below where the mask fused to the skin. It was dead before it hit the ground, but now Naruto was once again without a weapon.

Thinking fast, the blonde ninja broke off several bone spikes from the dead wolf, and spinning on his uninjured foot threw them like he would kunai. Most hit there mark, taking out another two wolves, but it seemed the last one was smarter than the others and had hidden behind the other two, using them as a shield to avoid the spikes.

Matching the glare being sent at him, Naruto slowly limped away from the wall so that he was standing across form the remaining wolf, which swotted the bodies of its pack away without a care. This only proved to make the blonde angrier, seeing the way it treated its friends bodies, and his body started glowing was he unconsciously started channelling the unknown energy. He could feel the same part of it that had caused the storm, and without thinking pulled on it, wanting nothing more than to tear the beast to pieces.

Because his eyes were open this time, Naruto was able to see how the energy formed into wind and started building up around him, but instead of just letting it run wild like last time he tried to focus it. Using his knowledge of wind chakra manipulation, the whiskered blonde formed the wind he was creating into several sharp, yet invisible blades, which he sent towards the wolf just as it jumped into the air in an attempt to pounce on him.

The only warning the wolf had that the blade existed was a slight whistling sound as the wind cut cleanly through the air, hitting the wolf and slicing through flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter.

The moment the wolf fell to the ground in pieces, Naruto let out a sigh, before turning his attention to his foot to see the damage, just in time to see the wound close before his eyes. Apparently, along with this strange new energy giving him a boost in his Wind nature, it also gave him a healing factor not unlike the one he had while Kurama was Sealed inside him…good to know.

Unfortunately, before he had time to think about this new knowledge, Naruto turned to see what looked like some king of giant boar glaring at him with the same red glowing eyes and bone like mask as the wolves he had just killed.

Letting out a sigh, the blonde turned to face the new fret, already building up the new energy in his body.

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Naruto spent next month in the abandoned village, or whatever it had been, living off of the animals that called it home. It would have been easier if the weird masked animals that kept attacking him had been edible, but after seeing the bodies disintegrating into black smoke, he had thought it better no to risk it.

He had even been able to find some new clothes in what had once been someone's home. A pair of dark brow pants, grey sleeveless shirt, some boots and a long, full body black cape with a hood. It wasn't much, but they were better than what was left of his old clothes, and kept him warm when the weather took a colder turn. He had set up camp on the top floor of one of the abandoned giant buildings, making sure to barricade himself in every night to avoid the masked creatures.

He didn't know what they were, and there seemed to be all different types, with thing they had in common being the fact they _all _ seemed to try and kill him on sight. But at least they gave him plenty of opportunities to train in this new energy running through his body, after all he always did learn best through fighting, and no matter how many of the masked beasts he killed there were always more.

He learned that like chakra, it could be used to make him faster and stronger, though he couldn't use it to stick to walls or water walk. It also seemed to make him more durable, something he had learned after a masked bear creature had slashed at his chest, only for its claws to bounce off as if it had hit steel. He wasn't indestructible, but anything that did get through was quickly healed, meaning he was good to go in minutes. Naruto had even been able to relearn how to use it so he could roof hope, spending hours just running over the buildings, refinancing his skill.

But it had been time for him to move on, to try and find actual civilisation, so picking a random direction, Naruto had started walking.

It had taken him a week before he found anything, and he was attacked several times by the masked beasts, but he was happy to have found the first sigh of living human life since his arrival. It was another large village, but unlike the last it was surrounded by a giant stone wall, and looked as good as new.

It was also good to see people again, after sneaking passed the people guarding the entrance, and just the sounds of life in general was a nice change from the near silence he had gotten used to.

There were only two problems.

The first was the fact he had no money, and the smells of food coming from different restaurants was making him hungry, and the second was that he had no idea where he was going. This place was like a maze!

But was after turning down yet another dead end ally that Naruto found himself in his current situation, with a frown on his face, and a knife pointed at him. He had been corner by man with a blank white mask like the once Hunter-nin use, with red glass over the eyeholes, and a heavily brown trench coat.

The knife he held was made from a dark orange metal and a knife, with a red handle that the blade could fold into, and from the way he was holding it Naruto could tell the man had almost no experience using it. But it was orange so as far as he was conserved it was awesome.

"Empty your pockets and give me your wallet, don't make any sudden movements for I'll kill you, got it?!"

Raising an eyebrow at the man, his head tilting to the side slightly, Naruto couldn't hide the surprise he felt at the man's words and actions.

"Are you…trying to mug me?"

He could see the man was getting angry, and could feel his eyes glaring at him through his eyeholes, but the idea that he as being mugged was just so strange to Naruto all he could do was stare dumbly. Either this man was the most unlucky guy in the world, or the stupidest…probably both.

"Enough! Just give…me…your…what…the…hell…is…happeni-"

Before he was even able to finish his sentence, the mugger fell to the ground clutching his throat, knife forgotten on the ground next to him as he choked for air.

This was the first time Naruto had the chance to use his control over wind on a person, but it seems that creating a bubble around a humans head with no air inside works just as well as it does against the masked beasts…who knew.

After taking a moment to consider his options, Naruto bent down and picked up the knife, and after examining it for a moment slipped it into his belt. He then quickly went through the man's pockets, and after taking all his money slipped into his own, putting the wallet he found back. He was about to walk away, but stopped and decided to take the mask at the last moment, after all you never know when you might need one.

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Five hours later Naruto was sat at a bar in a nightclub, his stomach full, and his ears full of loud music. He watched with a small frown as the people on the dance floor moved, seeming to blur into a faceless mass, as he took sips from his drink. The different colour lights flashing around the dark room were starting to give him a headache, and his drink was so watered down he could taste it more than the alcohol itself.

He had been able to find a library, learned that he was in a city called Vale, and that the creature he had been fighting were called Grimm. He read about the other cities, the war between humans and the Grimm, and anything else he could get his hands on. It was also nice to finally have a name for the new energy he had…Aura. He was even able to discover the sources of his wind power, which he learned was called a Semblance, his just happened to be Wind.

But the fact was that, after reading everything he could about the world he was now living in and the people that called it home, he had come to one conclusion…he hated it. He had just left one world full of war, only to land in another, darker world where humans were forced to hide behind walls from masked monsters that killed them for fun.

It was like the universe had gone out of its way to prove that all those years he spent trying to create peace, the dream Jiraiya had passed down to him, was pointless. Even if he had been able to create peace in the Elemental Nations, there were other worlds like this one that were at war…no matter where he went all he ever found was war…

It was actually really depressing.

Frowning, Naruto pulled the mask he had taken from the mugger from the inside of his cloak and placed it on the table in front of him, before taking out his headband. He had found a black cloth to replace the old one, he even cleaned the dirt and dust that had built up while he was living in the abandoned city, and laced it on the table next to the mask.

What was the point of fighting for piece when no matter what he did, there was always going to be fighting and war, whether it was in this universe or another. Why bother trying to change things at all, when it never seemed to make any difference…

Glaring at his headband, the thing that use to be his most treasured possession but now only seemed to remind him of how useless everything he had done with his life so far was pointless, Naruto growled and used the knife to slash the metal right through the symbol of his old village. His face still set into a frown, the blonde teen then put the mask on over his face, before tying his now slashed headband to his forehead over it.

He was able to get a glance at his reflection of himself in the mirror behind the bar, and between the blank mask, red eyes and hood covering his hair. The overall effect was very intimidating…which was exactly what he wanted.

After all, ninja were mercenaries…cold and unaffected by anything around them. The way he was feeling at the moment, which sounded great to Naruto. And that was what he was, a ninja, a shinobi…a mercenary.

It was time to started acting like it.

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**Hope you all like the chapter, please let me know what you think.**

**This is still before the first season, and next chapter will have Naruto meeting Cinder for the first time, not sure if this will get to the first season in the third of fourth chapter yet though. I will see how it goes.**

**R&amp;R :)**


	2. The Grim

**Just to make this clear now, the pair will be Naruto/Cinder only, there will not be anyone else in the pairing. However, that doesn't mean Naruto will not interact with other girls before he and Cinder get together, so I don't want to get a load of reviews complaining if he talks to other girls.**

**They will not get together instantly, it will be over a period of time, so don't start on me about it.**

**Anyway, now that that is out of the way…**

**Enjoy :)**

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**Disclaimer: I own Nothing :(**

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Chapter 2- The Grim

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**One Year Later**

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Naruto watched his target from the shadows of a rooftop as he quickly walked down the street, looking over his shoulder every few steps, eyes wide and full of fear and a plain black suitcase clutched to his chest. The sight made the blondes eyes narrow behind his mask, clearly the man knew someone was after him…not that it would matter.

The target was a middle age man with short, greying brown hair, and an unshaven face. He wore a simple, yet expensive looking grey suit, with a white shirt and red tie, and black leather shoes. Naruto didn't know his name, it wasn't important to the mission, but did know he was an accountant. An accountant that had stumbled on to something he shouldn't, and had made some bad, powerful people very angry.

Angry enough that they had him to get rid of the man.

Over the last year Naruto had built himself a reputation, one that make some of the hardest men and woman flinch at the name he went by, as one of, if not the best, assassin in Remnant. No one knew anything about him other than the fact he wore a blank white mask with red glass eyeholes, and his a grey hooded cloak.

He was known in all the kingdoms simply as 'The Grim', the mask with its red eyeholes giving him a similar look to the beasts, a man that would take almost any job and complete it without fail. It was also a well-known fact, after a client had tried to kill him so he didn't have to pay, that if you crossed him you wouldn't live to regret it. Naruto had made sure to make an example of the man, just to make sure this message was received.

Shaking thoughts of the passed from his head, Naruto refocused on his target, just as the man ducked into what seemed to be an abandoned office building.

Jumping across to the roof of the building, using his Semblance to help carry him and make sure he landed without a sound, Naruto quickly found a way inside and started looking for the man. It was just like he thought, there was a thick layer of dust covering everything from the floor to the walls, which he was careful to avoid disturbing so as not to leave a trail.

He soon found the tracks in the dust his target left, and could hear his heavy breathing from the room next to the one he was stood in, telling him exactly where he needed to go. So deciding to forgo silence at this point, having been following the man for the last three days he knew he didn't have a weapon, Naruto let the floorboards under his feet groan and creak.

He didn't miss the sudden hitch in the man's breathing, the almost silent whimper that escaped his lips, at the sound of his footsteps moving towards the door into the room. Naruto took his time, taking slow and carful steps, drawing out the moment and letting the man's fear build.

He used his wind to locate where the man was, making it creep under the closed door and feel out the room, being careful not to let it disturb the dust in the room. He found his target hiding behind a desk right across from the door, could feel him huddled in and shaking in fear as his movements disturbed the air in the room, and when he was sure he had a lock on him formed an air pocket around the man's head and listened as he started gasping for breath.

This was one of his preferred ways of killing, quick, mostly painless, and left almost no trace. It had become his signature over the last years, and the powers that be still hadn't figured out how he did it. Waiting for about half a minute, knowing from experience that it would be enough time for him to still barely be conscious, Naruto slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

He found his target right where the wind told him he could be, still gasping for air with wide eyes, the suitcase still clutched to his chest tightly. The moment Naruto came into his line of sight his eyes locked on him, this being the first time he had been close enough to see that he had green eyes, and was able to gasp out a single word before losing consciousness.

"P-please…"

He kept the bubble up for another five minutes, making sure the man was dead, before letting it go and stepping forward to check for a pulse. Happy that there was none, Naruto grabbed the suitcase from the dead man's arms, before taking out a disposable camera and snapping a picture of the body and walking away, his job done.

XXX

After completing a mission Naruto liked to come to 'The Club', he never understood why it didn't have a better name, to unwind and have a few drinks. He had already met up with his most recent client and been paid, getting a nice little bonus for retrieving the suitcase with the information the target had found, and was planning on spending some of it on alcohol.

The reason he came to this club in particular was for three reasons.

First was the fact it was a good place to find his next client, The Club was a well-known criminal base. Though he didn't just walk up to people and introduce himself as The Grim, he used the wind to carry peoples voices to his ears, it was normally easy to spot the type of people that would want his…service. He even made sure to leave a little of his profits for Junior each time he was paid, after all he was technically taking business from the man, and it stopped him looking for him to hard.

The second was a little more personal. It was at this club, one year ago, that Naruto had changed his life. In fact, it was in this very chair, in front of the bar, that he had first donned his mask. That was a changing point in his life, the moment he stopped dreaming and woke up to the reality around him, and he liked to remember it.

The third reason was simple because it normally had nice eye candy, like the twins that seemed to shadow Junior, the owner of the club. He never actually spoke to either of them, but after becoming a regular to the club they had started sending him glances, the one in red also seemed to have gotten into the habit of sending him a wink and a smirk whenever she caught him looking.

To make sure he couldn't be linked to his other persona, Naruto wore a blood red sleeveless shirt, with simple black jeans, fingerless black gloves and, just for the fun of it, a black top hat. Then again, even with the hat he didn't stand out much in the crowd, the DJ had a teddy bear head mask for crying out loud, it was a night club after all. While he wasn't a big fan of the flashing slights, Naruto couldn't fault the music, and if he ever needed to make a quick getaway they would actually make it easier for him.

Looking around the room, his eyes already seeking his next client, Naruto chuckled when he saw some drunk idiots making fools of themselves on the dance floor. Most of the people in the club were just normal, clueless people, with normal lives and jobs. They had no idea that the club they were in was a front for Junior to meet his clients, the man was a well-known information broker if you knew who to ask, and had his hand in anything and everything. If you needed information or even just some henchmen for a job, though most were pretty useless for anything other than cannon fodder, he was the guy to see.

It was also Junior that Naruto found his eyes locking on at the moment, the bearded man was talking to some orange haired guy in a white suit and black hat. The hat man also had a cane, and even though they were on the other side of the room, Naruto could tell it was actually a weapon of some kind.

He also saw the twins standing not far from the two, seeming to be making sure that no one tried to listen in of the conversation the two men were having, and when the one dressed in red saw him looking she smirked and sent him a wink. He smiled in return, holding his glass up to her in a silent acknowledgement, before leaning back on the counter so it wasn't obvious he was taking more interest in what the two men were doing then a normal person should.

Creating a small bit of wind, Naruto directed it across the room and towards Junior and the unknown man, making sure to take a sip of his drink regularly so as not to seem odd for not moving. The wind left a sort of trail in the air, invisible to all but his eyes, and the moment it reached to the men Naruto could hear everything they were saying as if he was actually stood next to them.

"So just how many guys are we talking about here, and what exactly are you going to use them for? I need to know so I can cover my own arse is all…"

That was junior, his gruff voice easy for the blonde to recognise after hearing it so many times over the last year.

"Only a few little robberies here and there, nothing you need to worry yourself about my friend, as for how many…twenty should do the trick. I know from experience the…quality, of your men can be a little lacking, but I need the extra hands."

Ad that was the unknown man.

"…fine, that shouldn't be a problem, when do you need them for?"

"Well this is going to be a long term venture, we are starting off small to avoid too much attention before we are ready, and there is no big rush at the moment. I'll have them hit up a few of the smaller Dust shops, quick in and out jobs to start off with, before we move up to the bigger prizes…"

This sounded interesting, he could easily take some time to rob a few Dust shops, though he wasn't sure why anyone would bother. While they made a good profit supplying Hunters, and other not so legal people, with 'ammunition' for their weapons, it wasn't in short supply so it Dust was pretty cheap.

Unless it wasn't money they were after…

The man had said he was building to something bigger, so if it was the Dust he was after, something that could be stockpiled over time it would make more sense. After all, while not expensive, the buying and selling of Dust was carefully monitored. It could take years to build up enough resources to be able to do anymore then power your own weapon, so it would make sense that if someone needed a large amount, but wanted to stay hidden until they were ready, to rob a few Dust stores over a long period of time.

Naruto didn't really use much Dust himself, except for some fire Dust to get rid of the odd body a client didn't want to be found, and it took so little when he used it with his wind it lasted him a long time.

This could be a pretty good payday for Naruto, a long term thieving mission would, and it would be a nice change from the assassination missions he had been taking lately. His mind made up, Naruto took a small business card out from his pocket, before letting his wind carry it over to the two men.

This was how Naruto got his clients without simple walking up to them. The card was simple, with a stylized leaf design with a slash through it on one side, another of his calling cards, and on the other side was a number with a time he could be called.

When he first started doing this, business had been slow, mostly because he didn't have a reputation at the time. But over the last year, with The Grim getting more and more popular in the underworld, the symbol was enough to get people's attention. It was a fact that you didn't find The Grim, he found you. A little dramatic maybe, but it only increased his reputation as a professional, and help to keep his real race a mystery.

Naruto watched as his card floated over to the two men, no one seeming to actually notice it, before directing the wind to drop it right in front of the orange haired man's face.

"What the hell is this…?"

He could see the small frown and raised eyebrow on Junior's face from his spot across the room, even if he gave the guy a cut he didn't like the fact that Naruto had never actually met him as The Grim, and quickly turned to the twins.

"Miltiades, Melanie, he's back again! I want you to find him this time, got it?!"

Without a word, the twins walked away from the two, separating as they started looking for anyone that stood out from the rest. Naruto ignored them for the moment as he focused on the two men, the twins had stopped trying to actually find him months ago, but had to at least look like they were trying to appease their boss.

"So what exactly am I looking at here?"

Letting out a sigh, Naruto watched as Junior ran a hand over his face, but knew in the end the man would explain.

"You heard of The Grim right?"

"Oh yes, he's some kind of assassin right? Made quite a name for himself over the last year…"

"Well, he's not so much an assassin as he is a mercenary, that's his calling card. Don't know how he does it, or ever met him personally, but he's made a habit of eavesdropping on my conversations. That card means he's willing to work for you…"

"Is that so, I'm sure Cinder will be very interested to hear that, though I am surprised you are being so generous as to explain this for me. After all, it seems like he is trying to steal your business."

"Huh, the guy may get on my nerves, but at least he has the good grace to give me a portion of the profit. Every time he takes a job from me, I find a letter with a nice little cash wad behind the bar with his symbol and my name on it. Just wish he would actually introduce himself for once, if I could get the guy on the payroll, I could probably fire the rest of the useless cannon fodder I have to put up with."

"…he's really that good then?"

"Far as I know the guy's never failed a request, though just a heads up, don't try and cross him. One of my old regulars thought he could get out of paying him by having him offed, didn't end so well for him or the ten guys he hired, I had the remains shipped to me with a note explaining what happened…"

"I see…I will have to talk to Cinder about this, but until then I will still need some of your men-"

Naruto stopped listening at this point, having made sure Junior explained what he needed to, and gave the warning his note had told him to. He did have to wonder who this Cinder was the orange haired man was talking about, if it wasn't for the fact the way he spoke sounded like he needed permission for making a move, Naruto would have said it was the man's partner or something. It sounded like this guy was just a go between, important and trusted enough to run things in the open, but in the end not enough to make a decision as big as hiring a world class assassin without checking in first.

He was brought out of his thoughts though when he felt a slender hand running along his shoulder, making him fight the instinct to lash out, and turned to see the smirking face of the red twin inches away from his own. Her pale green eyes staring into his own blue, mirth clearly shining in them, as she licked her lips. He didn't know if she was Miltiades or Melanie, but maybe this would be his chance to find out…

"Hello handsome…so what do I have to do to get you to buy me a drink?"

As she was talking, Naruto could feel her hand rubbing small circles into his shoulder, her body leaning into his slightly. Grinning, Naruto nodded to the bartender, who was sending him a knowing grin of his own, and a moment later a drink was pushed down the table to them.

With a pleased smile on her face the red twin, whose name he still didn't actually know, decided to take a seat on Naruto's lap instead of the empty chair next to him. He could feel her firm arse rubbing into his crotch as she made herself comfortable, forcing him to use all his willpower to keep a certain part of his body under control, but couldn't stop the slight groan that escaped his lips.

He could practically _feel_ her triumphant smirk at the sound of his groan, and she seemed to add in an extra 'wiggle', just for the fun of it.

"So, how come despite you coming in here so often, this is the first time we've actually met? I've seen you look plenty of times, but never actually came over, a girl could get self-conscious…"

Letting out a chuckle at her playful tone, Naruto reached around her and grabbed his drink off the bar, taking note of how she once again licked her lips as she watched the movement of his arm.

"Nice to meet you too, names Naruto…"

"Miltiades, but you can call me Miltia…and you still haven't answered my question?"

"Maybe I'm just shy?"

"Hmm…"

Seeming to take a moment to consider his words, the now named Miltiades gave another wiggle in the blonde's lap, before smirking again.

"I doubt it, you seem to be doing fine right now, after all."

"Ha! I guess I am, what you know."

"Miltiades…"

Before she could respond, the two were interrupted by a voice that sounded almost identical to the girl currently sat in his lap. Turning, both were met with the bored face of the white twin, who Naruto now learned was called Melanie.

"Oh, sister, how nice of you to join us, I was just getting better acquainted with my new friend here. Naruto, this is my twin sister, Melanie."

Nodding his head in greeting, Naruto watched as the girl look him up and down for a moment, her lips twitching up slightly on one side in a smirk not unlike her sisters.

"I see, unfortunately my sister and I have a job to do, so you will have to 'get better acquainted', another time."

With a sigh, Miltiades downed the last of her drink, sending another smirk his way as she did so, before hopping off his lap and moving to stand by her sister. Naruto didn't miss the way her hips seemed to be swaying a little more as she did.

"A shame, another time Naruto, I'd _love_ to get to know you better…"

Without another word, the twins started walking away, leaving the blonde with a smile on his lips as he enjoyed the view of their retreating forms as he whispered under his breath.

"Oh, I _defiantly_ wouldn't mind getting to know you better…"

Despite the fact they were already too far away to have been able to hear him, Naruto saw a slight shiver run through Miltiades body, before she looked back at him over her shoulder and licked her lips.

XXX

The next morning found Naruto sat in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, sat on a simple wooden chair in the middle of the room, with a small foldable table in front of him with a phone on top of it. The blonde made it a habit not to take business calls at his apartment, not wanting to be traced back to it, and would switch between several random buildings regally such as this one.

Call him paranoid, be in his business, it never hurt to be too careful.

He was dressed in his 'Grim' clothes, meaning all dark grey clothes, with the same cloak and mask from a year ago. He also had the small flick knife stored in a hidden pocket, though he rarely used it, it never hurt to have a weapon on hand.

The card he had sent the orange haired man had told him to call at exactly 7:03am, an oddly exact number to be sure, but he liked to mess with people on small things like that. It was now 7:02am, and he was waiting to see if he would call, patiently waiting with his arms crossed.

He wasn't surprised a minute later when the phone started buzzing, instantly answering it, and held it up to his ear.

"Am I speaking to The Grim?"

The voice on the other end of the phone made him frown, for one thing, it defiantly wasn't the orange haired man's voice. This voice was unmistakably female, and held a sultry tone to it, as if whoever was on the other end of the phone practically oozed sex appeal.

"You're not the man I gave my card too."

"Obviously, while Roman is a competent man, he lacks the necessary…skill, needed to talk to a man such as yourself. Though I must admit, you sound a lot younger then I was expecting, just how old are you?"

Deciding to ignore her question, it wasn't the first time a client had tried to catch him out, Naruto decided it would be better to get the call over as quickly as possible.

"These are my rules. Rule one, no questions. Rule two, I don't kill children or pregnant women. Rule three, I arrange meeting locations. Rule four, my prices are fixed. Rule five, once I take a job, I see it through to the end, and don't take any others until it is complete. Rule six, you try and stab me in the back, I make an example out of you. Do you understand and agree to my rules."

"So formal, but I guess I understand why, yes I understand and agree. Where and when can I meet you, I want to get started as soon as possible."

"Come to the location the tracer you have on this call tells you I am currently at within the next hour, I don't care if you come alone or not, but make sure you are not followed and don't draw attention to yourself."

"…how did you-"

He didn't let the women finish, hanging up the phone as she was speaking, before placing it on the table in front of him.

Now he just needed to wait.

XXX

If nothing else, Naruto was impressed by his potential new employers punctuality, something at seemed only matched by her willingness to follow his directions. Exactly 37 minutes after he hung up on her, the blondes was able to find her with the wind, along with three two other people. He knew it was them because they were moving straight for the warehouse he was currently holed up in.

Naruto wasn't able to actually see using his wind, simple get a rough idea of their body types, and the direction they were coming from based on how they disturbed the air around them as they walked. It was almost like a sonar, only he had no real way of putting the experience into word.

His ear soon picked up three sets of footsteps approaching him from behind, having sat himself with his back facing the door as a sort of test, even if they tried to attack him he would feel it in the air long before they could get close enough.

One was clearly a man's shoe, the dull thuds of slightly worn leather, yet a slight clicking from the metal plated toes told him they were expensive. The second was harder to guess, it had a little heel and sounded heavy enough to be boots of some kind, so base on that and what the air around the person was telling him Naruto would say it was a girl.

The last set of footsteps was the easiest to work out thought. Glass high heel shoes, very high heeled if he was going to guess, clinking on the floor step by step as the three got closer to him.

He didn't miss the slight hesitation as they reached the open door leading into the wide open space of the warehouse, the slight pause when they first saw him with his back turned to them, before quickly recovering and continuing to close the space between them. That was good, it meant they were brave, but also smart. If he was going to be working with them for an extended period of time, he needed to know they weren't just all talk with no real brains behind the, that would be too risky for all involved.

Fully slipping into his 'work persona' as The Grim, Naruto didn't even turn to face them when he spoke, his voice almost devoid of any emotion.

"You made good time…good, that's a point in your favour."

The moment he started talking, the three stopped walking towards him, about ten meters away from where he was sat.

"Is that so…I must admit, I am a little excited to finally be able to meet the great assassin, you're reputation speaks loudly-"

"I'm not an assassin."

He recognised the voice as the one who had spoken on the phone, the apparent boss of this little group he was considering working for, and her voice sounded even sultrier in person.

There was a pause, his words clearly confusing the three for a moment, before the woman seemed to regain enough of herself to speak again.

"I don't understand…you are 'The Grim', are you not? Confirmed killer of five people in the last year, suspected killer of another thirteen, and who knows how many others that no one has caught onto yet…"

"I'm not an assassin…I'm a mercenary. I was simple hired for assassinations a lot over the last year, and they also tend to be the hardest to keep quiet, but I do other things besides kill. I can steal almost anything, whether it is information, Dust, or even the new prototype Atlesian Paladin-290 the military is rumoured to be working on. Based on the plans I stole, they should be operational in less than a year…and for the record, as of yesterday my kill count reached thirty seven."

He added the last part on for the intimidation, though based on the shuffling of only one pair of feet behind him, it only worked on the man.

"I see, you are more impressive than I thought…but just how _did_ you find out about us exactly? Roman claims your card floated into his face without any sigh of you, that no one was within five meters of him and Junior when they were talking, so…"

"Rule one, no questions."

"Of course…would you mind if we came round to face you, it is a little uncomfortable talking to the back of your head?"

"I never said you couldn't in the first place…"

He listened carefully as the three walked slowly around to face him, keeping the same distance between them, as they moved in a large circle. It was at this point Naruto got his first real look at them, though the orange haired man was the only one he recognised, and he took a moment to take them in.

One of the women was young, looking maybe two years younger than him, at least from what he could tell. She was petite, with strange multi-coloured hair, and miss matched eyes. Half her hair was brown, and the other half was pink was pink with a white strip in it, while her left eye was pink and her right brown. She was wearing a white dress shirt with pink lining, a dark brown corset around her waist, and brown jeans what clung to her legs like a second skin. She was also carrying an umbrella, which was currently being spin around, a carefree smile on her face.

But it was the last of the group that really got the blondes attention, and he knew straight away that she was the one who had been talking to him, there was no way it could be anyone else now that he saw her.

She looked about a year older them him, with long, raven black wavy hair that fell around her face and ended just below her shoulders. Her figure was, to put it simple, sinful. Every curve of her body was perfect, and the skin-tight blood red dress only seemed to enhance this fact. But the thing that caught most of his attention was her eyes, twin pools of molten gold, seeming to almost move like flames.

Naruto had never seen a women like this before, and he doubted he ever would again, she was one of a kind.

Of course, thanks to his mask, none of his emotions were show to the group. Another advantage to wearing a mask, his face had always been far too expressive for his own good, Jiraiya used to say he wore his heart on his face for all to see…

Mentally shaking the thoughts from his head, Naruto refocused on the three in front of him, waiting for them to take in his appearance. This meeting was actually going better than many of his others, after his reputation had been built, all he ever got were either quivering cowards for overconfident arseholes. It was a nice change to find a group of people that were able to fake being indifferent to him, at least two of the anyway, the multi-coloured girl seemed a little odd in the head from what he could tell.

After giving them what he considered more than enough time to take him in, Naruto leaned forward in his seat slightly, smirking behind his mask when two out of the three tensed.

"What are the details for the job? The time frame? The targets? The amount of Dust you need to stockpile? How many men do you already have under your command and are you planning on getting more? I also assume you already have a place to keep the Dust after it is stolen, preferable somewhere outside any of the kingdoms, it would be too risky to stockpile any large amount of Dust inside any of the walls…"

He could see the slightly shocked face of the orange haired man, who he now knew to be named Roman, though he didn't really care much about him. The raven haired woman was sending him an impressed smirk, one hand resting on her waist, her gold eyes locked on his covered face. The multi-coloured girl was just sending him a smile, twirling her umbrella around, her eyes wondering around the warehouse.

"I'm impressed…of course you understand there is only so much I can tell you, as one professional to another. The plan is to hit up some of the smaller Dust shops across the different kingdoms, make it harder to seem like an organised stream of attack to begin with, and slowly build up to the larger stores within a year. I don't intend on telling you the exact number of people working for me until I know I can trust you, but we have enough to get started for now, and have plans to get more. We do indeed have a place set up to stockpile the Dust, an abandoned city Southeast of Vale-"

"Mountain Glenn, I am familiar with it…"

That was an understatement, it was the city he had spent the first month on his life in this world living in. He could see she didn't look happy that he had figured out the location, but quickly hid anger behind a smirk again…she was good.

"Good, one less thing for me to explain. As I was saying, we have a place to store the Dust, well out of the way of anyone stupid enough to come looking for us. By the end of the year, we are hoping to be able to start hitting Dust supply trains, and begin cutting off Vale from its supply before moving on to the other kingdoms. Once we have the supply, it will be time to start creating the demand, and with a shortage of Dust we will control the market."

Naruto thought over her words for a moment, and came to one conclusion based on what she had said, this woman intended to start a war between the Kingdoms. That was what she meant by creating demand for her supply, she was going to pit the Kingdoms against each other, and sell the stolen Dust for a killing.

There was time, namely back before he came to this world, that the idea of helping to start a war would have repulsed Naruto. He would have even gone out of his way to stop it, one way or another, or at least try and warn someone what they were planning. But that was the old, stupid Naruto with his head stuck in a dream, and that Naruto had died a year ago when he first put on his mask and became The Grim.

Now, he really didn't care about it, as long as he was paid. For all he care, the world could burn around him, and he would happily use the fire to toast marshmallows.

Standing up, slowly so as not to look like he was going to attack, Naruto held out his hand to the woman and waited for her to shake his hand.

"Call me Grim, I look forward to working with you, Miss…"

The women's smirk grew slightly, and she walked forward without hesitation and took his hand in her own, Naruto's large hand easily engulfing her small dainty one.

"Cinder…Cinder Falls, and I look forward to working with you as well…"

XXX

**Hope you like the chapter, let me know what you think :)**

**R&amp;R :)**


	3. Infiltration

**Just to clear something up, although it may seem like Naruto has a lot of control over his Semblance, so far he is only using small things like the head bubbles or Wind blades. The more powerful the attack, the harder it would be to control.**

**Like trying to contain the power of a tornado with a glass box, eventually the box will shatter and the storm will break free. This is how Naruto's control currently is so while he keeps it small, the glass box that is his control is fine, but if he put too much into it the box is shattered and he would lose control.**

**This will not actually be mentioned for another few chapters, but I wanted to explain it because of the people asking about his control.**

**Anyway, enjoy :)**

XXX

Disclaimer: I own Nothing :(

XXX

Chapter 3- Infiltration

XXX

Naruto looked below as the ruined city passed by under them, the wind howling loudly in his ears from both the engines and the speed they were moving, and made a small game out of counting the number of Grimm he could see from his vantage point in the aircraft.

After they had settled on a deal, Naruto had followed the group to their car, which had taken them outside the city to a waiting Bullhead. The blonde would admit to being slightly impressed by Cinder's current setup, considering she couldn't be more than a year older then him, very efficient.

They didn't speak since leaving the warehouse, Roman was clearly uncomfortable around him, trying to not make eye contact. The multi-coloured girl who he now knew as Neo, didn't seem to actually speak at all and just spun her umbrella, was happy to just star into empty or random space. Cinder hadn't actually take her eyes off of his masked face since they got in the Bullhead, having sat across from him, her legs folded.

They had been flying for about three hours before hitting the city limits a few minutes ago, and that was the first time since taking his seat that Naruto had actually moved an inch, even if it was only to look out of the window. Even if he couldn't use Sage mode anymore, the training he had gone through was still a part of him, and it always unnerved people when he went long periods of time without moving an inch.

Naruto found from experience that it was always good to keep his clients on their toes, keep them scared or nervous around him, and they were less likely to try and stab him in the back later. As long as he projected an air of hidden power, very few people would dare try and cross him, and the ones that were tended to be smart enough to realise that would be a bad idea.

He was working in a cutthroat business, he needed to use every advantage he had, and even some he didn't to keep ahead. Though this job would be interesting, it was definitely longer term then anything he had taken so far, and a lot more organised then most of his other clients. Who knows, by the end of his contract, he might even decide to stick around.

His thoughts were broken by the sound of Cinder's voice, somehow reaching his ears though the loud sound of the Bullhead engines, directed at him.

"So tell me, Grim, you seem like a smart person so I am sure you at least have an idea of my endgame plan-"

"You intend to start a war between the different Kingdoms, crate demand for the supply of Dust you are going to be stockpiling, allowing you to sell it for a high price."

This time she didn't even look surprised that he had figured her out, let alone angry like the first time, and simply gave him a smirk.

"Very good, I like a man with brains, but back to my question. You seem very uncaring about the idea of helping us start a war, why is that exactly?"

"You seem to not understand something, Miss Falls, about the human race, or any sentient race for that matter. They are always at war with each other…"

Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the three people he was sat with, Naruto quickly explained.

"Even in times of peace, such as now, it is only a fleeting and fragile thing. I have taken missions from many people over the last year, from spying to assassinations, and know for a fact even now the different Kingdoms are preparing themselves for the eventual war that they know will come. Until that time comes, they will smile at each other and act as if nothing is wrong, but behind that they are half expecting to be stabbed in the back. The hard part would not be starting a war, everyone is already expecting it, but to prevent the inevitable."

He took in the faces of the three at his words, though the only one he really cared about at this point was the woman sat across from him, she was the one in charge after all. That reaction was the slight widening of her smirk, her legs switching over, and her eyes seeming to gleam slightly more.

"I see, you have a very…dark, perspective, Mr Grim."

"I prefer to think of myself as a realist."

"Maybe, but it is still dark, not that I don't agree with you of course. But tell me, after we have collected enough Dust, how would _you_ go about starting a war?"

Taking a moment to think about the question, using his knowledge of how things worked in the Elemental Nations, Naruto quickly came up with several plans.

"One way would be to somehow make it look like the robberies were being organised by one of the Kingdoms, all you would have to do is not take any Dust from it, and the minds of others will automatically focus on the odd one out. Another would be harder but faster, if you were to arrange a number of assassinations on high ups in several movements it would cause a panic that would end in a war eventually. The last option would be to slowly undermine the reputation and authority of one of the kingdoms, paint a target on their back, before weakening them enough that the other Kingdoms will try and take advantage of it."

"You have put a lot of thought into this, almost as if you were planning to start a war between the Kingdoms before we met…"

"While I have never planned to start a war before now, I have considered the different ways in which it will be started, and have plans for what I would do when it does. I am a mercenary after all, war is always good for business, and only a fool would not make plans to use it."

"A fool indeed…"

They were silent for a moment, her golden eyes locked on his through the red lenses of his mask, before they were interrupted by an annoyed sounding voice to Naruto right.

"Dear god, can you two not flirt so close to me, I feel like I might get an STD just from being around the two of you."

Slowly turning to look at Roman, who suddenly seemed to realise he had spoken his thoughts out loud, Naruto watched as the man turned away from him and started to sweat as he looked out the window.

XXX

Naruto wasn't sure what surprised him more, the fact that there was a smaller underground city under Mountain Glenn, or the fact he never found it when he was living there.

The city was nothing compared to the one above ground, having been build and abandoned again in a rush, but it was still impressive. Most of the buildings were ruff and uneven, few being more than a signal story high, and some were built on ledges more than fifty feet above the base level with stair cut out of the stone leading up to them. He also didn't miss the train tracks leading off in a tunnel to the Northwest, directly in the direction of the city of Vale, though there was no train.

At the moment, only a small part of the underground refuge was being used, a small group of Junior's men working on cleaning several old homes to be used as storerooms. He knew they were Junior's men because they were all dressed the same, with black suits and hat, and were all carrying simple red bladed swords. It was the usual for people working for the information broker, the fact no one had actually been able to connect this fact to the man yet surprised Naruto, but then again the men were so incompetent they weren't considered a real fret to anyone.

Naruto stood to one side next to Cinder watching the men as they worked, Neo and Roman stood on her other side, and watched as the men dropped another heavy box on their own feet for what seemed the hundredth time. The blonde couldn't help but comment.

"These were the best you could get…"

He didn't turned away from them as he heard the deep sigh that came from Cinders mouth, watching them was actually pretty funny, and he didn't want to miss anything.

"I know they are useless, but we needed the numbers to help clear the place out, and they will be fine with the smaller jobs. Though I agree, we will need to find something better when we start picking off the bigger fish, though I'm not sure where we will find them…"

He didn't miss the open ended question directed at him, it seemed even though he only just met her Cinder wanted his opinions. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, because it mean she was limited on people she could bounce ideas off of, but he didn't really care much either way.

Again taking a moment to think it over, Naruto suddenly remembered a certain group that had been in the news recently.

"Have you ever heard of the White Fang?"

Instead of Cinder answering him, it was Roman, the man seeming to have calmed down around him enough now to speak his mind.

"The Faunus rights group? I heard they recently went extreme and started attacking people, they were just declared a terrorist group last week after blowing up a Dust supply train. But they would never join humans, and what good would a bunch of stupid animals do us?"

Roman's words brought a small frown to the blonde's lips, though it was covered by his mask, and it took an effort to keep his voice neutral.

"Your right about them not siding with humans easily, but make them the right offer and make it sound like a mutual benefiting partnership, and they will help. It would cost more to pay them then it would Junior's men, and they would probably want a cut of the final profit if they knew about it, but the quality of service would be better than…this"

At the word 'this', Naruto gestured at two men how were currently carrying a table between them, only to trip on a stone and fall into a man tying his shoelace and making them all fall to the floor with the table on top of them.

Rubbing her eyebrow in irritation, Cinder let out a small sigh and nodded her head, eyes closed so she didn't have to keep watching.

"I see your point…if nothing else it would be worth looking into, though for now we should be ok with Junior's men. He is already in on the plan, and will be sending us any information that may be important."

"Good, while his men may be useless, Junior is a good information broker. He is also a decent fighter when pushed into a corner, and the twins are skilled, having them in on the plan is for the best."

Without another word Naruto turned away from the clean-up and started walking away, Cinder quickly following him, and leaving both Roman and Neo behind to keep an eye on the men. He walked over to the train lines, jumping down into the trench and looking down the darkened tunnel, unable to see far enough to spot the end.

"Where do these tracks go?"

Staying on the platform above him, her eyes still fixed on his form, Cinder raised a delicate eyebrow at the question before answering.

"Straight to Vale, though the other end had been sealed off for years, it was how the citizens of Mountain Glenn escaped the Grimm when they were attacked. After retreating underground, they finished digging the tunnel and rails for what was planned to be a supple rout between the two cities as an escape tunnel…why do you ask?"

"Well short term, if you can clear an entrance on the other side, it could be a quick way in and out of Vale. Long term, it is a strategic weakness in the cities defence, a tunnel under the wall. It might be useful later one in your plan…"

Turning to look at his new employer, Naruto was confused to see her still looking at him, only this time with a contemplating expression on her face.

"You sound so young, yet talk like an experienced solider, even the way you carry yourself speaks of control and grace. Were you in the military?"

He was about to tell her to stop asking questions again, only to pause and think for a moment, a small frown on his lips under his mask. He was going to be working with these people for a long time, and it wasn't like he even existed in this world before just over a year ago, what harm could they do with information from before that time. He would need to twist a few truths a little, but they would have no way to confirm anything anyway, so it was risk free on his part.

It would also convince Cinder to trust him more, which would only make his job easier.

"In a sense, yes, I was part of _a_ military. When I was younger I lived in a village outside the Kingdoms reach, deep in what is consider Grimm Country, called the Hidden Leaf. There were five villages, small compared to the four cities, but each had more military manpower then all the four cities combined."

"How is that even possible?"

"In the cities, you start to train people to be Hunters and Huntresses at fourteen, before sending them to a larger academy at seventeen where most will then serve in the military for at least a term. In the hidden villages we were trained from the age of five, before being placed on active duty at twelve. After passing a test, we were placed on four man teams, three newly graduated student, and one experienced Hunter or Huntress to further our training and lead us on missions."

"…you're a child solider."

He didn't miss the wide eyes look the raven haired woman was now sending him, or the slight frown on her lips as she continued to stare at his masked face, her arms crossed under her chest. But it was only there for a moment before her expression was replaced with a different one, he could almost see the gears turning in her head as she took in this new information, before a small smirk crossed her lips.

"Would we be able to convince any of these villages to join us?"

"No"

Her face quickly changed to annoyed.

"Why not?"

"They don't exist anymore."

Seeing the confused expression on her face, Naruto jumped back up so he was standing next to her again, looking back over to the clean-up.

"Like I told you before, humans will always be at war, we we're no different. The villages went to war against each other, and when it was over the Grimm picked off what was left, there is nothing left of any of the villages. I was the only survivor."

Before Cinder had time to comment, Naruto walked away, planning on finding somewhere to set himself up while he was here.

XXX

As she watched him walk away, Cinder couldn't keep the smirk off her face, the mere thought of the newest member of her team sending a shiver down her spine. It was rare that something or someone could surprise her, but he seemed to do it almost constantly, whether with his words or actions. She was also surprised at how quickly he was able to come up with the same plans she had spent months refining and researching, and even thought ahead of them, in ways she had not even considered yet.

While she held no opinion of the Faunus one way or another, Cinder had never thought about recruiting them, and was scolding herself for not doing so sooner. Her plan had always been to start a war between the four cities by weakening Vale enough to tip the balance of power, though she had not figured out how to go about doing so yet, and with one glace at some rusty old train tracks The Grim had already pointed out a key weakness in the cities defences that they could exploit.

He really was brilliant, maybe even more so the she herself, though she was loathe to admit it without further proof. Cinder had always liked to surround herself with people who were brilliant like herself, in one way or another, even Roman had his moments.

But The Grim was something else entirely, something she had never seen before, something new.

He claimed to be a child solider from a village outside the Four Cites control deep in Grimm Country, and while hard to believe, Cinder could tell he was at least telling part of the truth. The fact he was trained was undeniable, his skill was seen in the very way he walked, and his mind was undoubtable set in that of a tactician familiar with the art of war.

He claimed that the village he came from, along with the other four he knew of were gone, having killed each other only for the Grimm to pick off the few survivors. Again, she could tell he was telling the truth to some extent, while he may be good even he couldn't hide the sadness in his voice when he told her that. There were some emotions that couldn't be faked, or hidden, they just ran too deep. The pure sadness in his voice was one of them.

Cinder also couldn't help but admire his professionalism, the way he had gone about setting up their first meeting was inspiring, if a little dramatic. But then the drama only added to the overall effect, the intimidation, the show of self-assurance when they first entered the Warehouse, only to see him sat with his back to them…it was all a show of power.

And if there was one thing Cinder Falls liked…it was power.

Power was something The Grim seemed to have in spades, she could feel his Aura, feel how it seemed to saturate every cell in his body. The thought of it sent another shiver down her spine.

Yes, bringing him in had been the right decision, and Cinder was already working him into her long term plans. They had signed a year contract, meaning that she had a year to convince him to stay passed that, and she would convince him.

One way or another, Cinder would have The Grim as part of her 'inner circle', by the end of their contract, he would willingly stay by her side.

Cinder would make sure of it…

XXX

Naruto set himself up in one of the small abandoned homes on a high ledge, one that gave him a bird's eye view of most of the underground city, with a solid wall behind him. It was the best he could find, and it wasn't like he needed much to be comfortable, so after using his wind to clear out the dust he settles himself in.

It only had three room, a bathroom, a bedroom and a living room/kitchen. There was no power, so he would need to get some candles, but it would be fine for now. Really it was more of an apartment then a house, but Naruto didn't really have anything he needed to unpack, having only brought a couple changes of clothes. Even for a yearlong contract, Naruto didn't bring anything personal, nothing that couldn't be replaces if he needed to leave it at a moment's notice.

Honestly, it wasn't even that he was worried about someone finding out who he was, because before a year ago Naruto didn't even exist in this world. Sure it would make moving around harder, but it wouldn't take a lot of effort to change his appearance enough that he couldn't be recognised.

Mostly all the cloak and dagger stuff was to help his image and reputation. His clients trusted his skills more if they thought he was a shadow, that he couldn't be traced back to them, and by going through the whole masked meeting thing it made them more comfortable in herring him.

His job was one part dramatics, one part intimidation and the last part skill.

Though, Naruto got the feeling that his latest employer wasn't like the ones he had had so far, she just gave him that feeling. He had definitely impressed her, both with his words and the way he had acted so far, and he knew she was able to see at least some of his skill from the way he moved. Without a doubt, Cinder Falls was a smart person, smart enough that he might have not actually needed to put on his usual show, but by this point it had become habit.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto moved over to the rusty sink built into the small kitchen area, only to frown when nothing came out of the tap. Not that surprising, but he would have to sort something out soon, maybe set something up to collect rainwater from the surface.

Then again, he wouldn't be spending all his time down here, in fact Naruto doubted he would be here much at all. More likely than not he would sent out to keep an eye on the robberies, and then when they moved up to bigger target would be sent to join them, but he doubted Cinder would want him here guarding the stockpile too often.

Maybe he should just buy battled water and bring it down whenever he came.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the sound of footsteps outside his new door reached his ears, not that they seemed to be trying to hide themselves, before whoever it was gave a series of light knocks to the worn wood.

Frowning under his mask, Naruto quickly moved to answer it, and was only mildly surprised when he opened the door to find Neo. The petite girl was smiling up at him, her miss matched eyes locked on his mask, and her umbrella resting on her left shoulder.

For about a minute the two simple stood there, not a word said between them as they simple starred at each other, before Naruto gave a small nod and stepped out and closed the door behind him.

It seemed he was being summoned.

XXX

Neo led Naruto to one of the old buildings on the ground level of the underground city, thought it looked slightly cleaner than the others, which had two of Junior's men standing outside the door acting as some kind of guard. The small girl hadn't said a word to him since she came to get him, but Naruto was starting to wonder if that was just her thing, or maybe she really just couldn't talk at all.

The room he was brought into was well lit, with a large table full of maps and plans covering it, and four people already waiting for them inside. The first two he already met, Cinder was sat in a chair at the end of the table, her legs crossed and the usual smirk on her face, while Roman was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room.

The first of the other two people was a boy, in his late teens like Naruto himself, and was wearing all grey clothes and even had grey hair. He was sat in a chair with his feet on the table, a slightly bored smile on his face, and arms crossed behind his head.

The second was a girl, also about the same age as him, with emerald green hair and red eyes. Her cloths, if they could be called that, were a green shirt that only covered her chest, a white jacket with no front except for the part that held it together. Her legs were covered by white and green jeans, which clung to her like a second skin, and ended a little below her knees. Naruto also didn't miss the pair of green dagger attached to her belt on the small of her back.

She was stood leaning against the wall behind Cinder, a slightly playful smirk on her face when eye eyes landed on him.

The moment he walked into the room, Neo practically skipped over to one of the chairs, before jumping into it with a large smile on her face. But before the blonde had any time to wonder about the strange girl, his attention was brought back to the raven haired woman sat at the head of the table.

"Ah, Mr Grim, I'm glad you could join us. I thought it would be a good idea for you to meet the rest of the team, though Junior isn't here, so I sent Neo to bring you. Please take a seat, I trust there have been no issues so far?"

Moving to take the offered seat to the women's right, Naruto gave a small shake of his head, before looking at the two new people he was yet to meet.

"None"

"Good, then we can get straight on to the introductions. The man sitting over there is Mercury-"

"Hey"

"-and the woman is Emerald."

"Hi"

"Mercury, Emerald, it is my pleasure to introduce you to…The Grim."

The moment she said his work name, both teens stiffened for a moment, there eyes sharpening as they took him in. This told Naruto that not only did the two know of him, but from their quick examination of him, they were both fighters. Good, it would make it easier for him to work with them, it always bugged him when he was forced to work with useless idiot that couldn't tell the sharp end of a sword from the hilt.

Both recovered quickly, the playful smirk returning to Emerald's face, and the bored one to Mercury's. Though the grey haired teen decided to throw one last comment before closing his eyes.

"Nice mask"

Choosing to ignore the comment, Naruto turned his attention to the papers on the table in front of him. There were maps of each of the Four Cities, along with the land surrounding them, and each Dust shop was clearly marked on all of them. There were also maps showing the trade routes and train lines, and even a basic maps of the different Schnee family Dust mines and storehouses.

How they had gotten all of this information Naruto had no idea, thought the Maps of the Schnee mines and facilities were limited to location and basic floor plan, if Cinder planned to hit any of them he would need to do a little recon of his own. He could steal any information they would need without much trouble, it would be the first time a client wanted information on the family or their business, and they had a lot of enemies. He could even pin it on a competitor.

"I take it from these maps the 'bigger game' you were talking about was the Schnee family supply trains, maybe even one of their mines?"

"Indeed, that is the long-term plan, though they would be our last hit before moving on to the next stage."

Nodding his head, Naruto pulled one of the mine maps closer to him, before screwing it up and throwing it over his shoulder.

"These maps are useless, I would suggest getting your money back from Junior…at least I assume you brought them from him. Give me a few weeks and I'll get you full floor plans, a guard rotation and an overview of the stock they keep on sight before shipping it off."

Sitting up slightly at his words, Naruto watched as Mercury leaned on his elbow, one hand on his cheek and his face still set into a bored expression.

"You sound pretty confident about that, any reason why, after all the Schnee mines are one of the most heavily guarded facilities in Remnant…?"

"It wouldn't be the first time I snuck in for information, while good the security is easy enough to bypass when you know the routine. They have become complacent after years of no one bothering to try, and haven't changed anything for the last five years…pathetic really."

He didn't miss the almost gloating look Cinder sent the others in the room at his words, or the surprise on the others faces, anyone would think they didn't believe him.

"Why would you have broken into one of the mines before?"

Turning to look at Emerald, who had moved from her place at the wall to a seat across from him, Naruto raised an eyebrow behind his mask.

"I'm a mercenary, you aren't my first clients, though the only reason I am talking about it is because the man who hired me for that particular job voided our contract."

"How'd he do that?"

"He got arrogant, and instead of paying me tried to have me killed after the job…I made an example of him…"

Whatever question they were going to ask him died when he said that, the shuttle reminder that he could and _would_ kill them shutting up any retort they had, though again Cinder only seemed to smile more at the threat.

Definitely a strange one…

XXX

True to his word, two weeks later found Naruto looking down into the largest mine of the Schnee Family, a large pit in the middle of nowhere with a wall surrounding it and buildings built into the side of the rock wall. It actually looked a lot like the underground city they had set up base in, only without a roof, and a lot more people. There were five ledges in the pit, each running around the edge, and each with a larger drop the further down you went.

He was crouched behind an outcropping of rocks looking down into the mine, having already gotten passed the wall and outer defences, and was just waiting for the guards rotation to fall into the right pattern before making his next move.

Crouched on his left was Neo, her umbrella nowhere to be seen, and her usual carefree smile covered by a white mask similar to his own. And on his right was Emerald, who couldn't seem to keep the grin off of her face at having snuck into one of the most secure places in this world, her eyes alight with anticipation, and her own mask only covering the top half of her face.

Although he would have proffered to do this alone, Cinder had insisted he bring the two girls with him, though didn't explain why. He had eventually agreed, but only on the condition that they forgo their usual clothes for simple shirts and pant, covered by grey cloaks like his own, and masks to cover their faces. It would ensure that if they were spotted neither of them could be recognised, and seeing as the last time he had done this Naruto had do so alone, he wasn't sure they wouldn't be seen.

Though Cinder had insured him that both girls were skilled enough to accompany him without getting in the way, the blonde would only believe it when he saw it with his own two eyes, so he was being more carful than usual. He had also made it clear to them both not to do _anything_ without him saying so.

Ducking down as a guard passed their hiding spot, the other two doing the same, Naruto counted to twenty in his head before nodding to the them both and jumping over the boulder. Trusting that the two would at least be able to follow him, Naruto jumped off of the edge and into the pit headfirst, using the wind around him to slow his decent, before righting himself at the last moment and landing in a crouch.

The blonde waited for two seconds, hearing two dull thuds as the girls landed behind him, before quickly sprinting along the footpath they had landed in and jumping into a small alcove cut into the rock wall. There was only just enough space for the three of them to squeeze in, Neo and Emerald only just making it in before two guard came round a corner and passed there hiding place, the shadows covering their bodies.

They stayed there for another four minutes before, before without a word Naruto climbed out, backtracked about four meters down the path they had already, before jumping down to the second ledge. This time he didn't pause to make sure the other two were still following him, and instead shot off to his right, using the wind to create cushion like air pockets under his feet to make sure his steps were silent, before kicking off of the wall to his left and jumping over the each again.

The reason he kicked off the wall was so that he would be able to push himself out far enough to skip third ledge altogether, before shooting his hand out and grabbing the edge of an old tunnel that had not been use for maybe year, and pulled himself inside before anyone could see him. Not five seconds later, he was joined by a panting Emerald who needed to lean against a wall to catch her breath, and Neo who seemed barely winded.

"I thought you said braking in was going to be easy, how did you ever plan this bloody rout?"

Wait for the two to catch their breath, Naruto started walking down the tunnel, before whispering so his voice didn't echo in the enclosed space.

"I spent a month scouting out the mine before I even entered, then spent another week building an internal map in my head, this tunnel we are in right now was my base for the week. It's old and isn't used anymore, but still leads down into the active part of the mine, so we can use it to get to the bottom where the information we need is kept."

Naruto led the small group through a maze of unlit tunnels, the red lenses in their masks helping them to see better in the dark, though not to the degree a Faunus would be able to. They didn't run into anyone for about thirty minutes, and when they started to venter into the more active parts of the mine, they were forced to pick up their pass from a slow walk to a full on sprint by the end.

After spending five minutes clinging to the roof of a tunnel waiting for a small group of Faunus miners to pass, and after another sprint, ran out into the open at the bottom of the mine. Without pause, Naruto headed straight for a small container that had been converted into a room and was set on bricks several feet off the ground, and slid under it without slowing his momentum.

The three then spent the next hour laying on the ground under the container, watching as people walked in and out, before the sun went down and the night shift started. It was at this point that Naruto moved for the first time since they had hidden under the container, crawling over to a small hole in the floor above them where a light could be seen.

Ignoring the silent questions he could feel from the two girls at what he was doing, Naruto used the wind to scout out the room, finding three people inside. After confirming where each was, the blonde then formed bubbles around each of their heads, and slowly started to thin the air around them until they fell unconscious and checked the time on his watch.

Waiting a minute to be sure they were out, Naruto motioned for the other two to follow him and after checking that no one was looking slipped inside the room and locked the door behind them. The room was small, with a small sitting area, and several filing cabinets, a large printer/photocopier and a simple clock on the wall. The blonde quickly moved to close the blinds, making sure no one would be able to see inside, before turning off the light.

The moment Emerald saw the three men slumped in the chairs, she froze, her hand reaching for her daggers, but before she could draw them Naruto's hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"They're knocked out and will not wake up until after we leave, so don't touch them, I want to be out of here within five minutes so get to work."

Turning his back on the green haired teen, Naruto walked over to one of the cabinets and started looking through them, and every time he found something they needed used the copy machine to make a duplicate before returning the original to its rightful place. He could see Neo doing the same out of the corner of his eyes, while Emerald stayed back and kept a lookout by peering through the blinds, being careful not to draw attention to herself.

Even though he had a mental map of most of the tunnels and buildings from his last time here, Naruto make sure to make copies of the maps too, not knowing what might have been changed. After all, this was a mine, new tunnels were build every day, and old ones were known to collapse.

When the five minutes was up, they had everything they needed, and after storing everything in small pouch he kept on his hip. Looking at his watch, Naruto moved over to the clock on the wall, before using his finger to set it back about six minutes. He then quickly moved around the room, setting everything back to the way it was before then came, before quickly leaving and rolling back under the container.

When the other two joined him a second later, Emerald crawled over so she was next to him, before whispering so as not to be heard by anyone passing by.

"What did you do to those guys, they were knocked out before we even went in, and why did you mess with the clock?"

"I moved the clock back so that when they wake up it will seem less suspicious, just closed their eyes and nodded off for a moment, and later someone will just assume the cloak is broke or someone was playing a trick to make them late. As for what I did to knock them out…I'll explain it later, when we aren't in the middle of a mission."

Though she didn't look happy, Emerald gave him a small nod, before settling in and waiting for Naruto to give them the signal to move.

After all, they still needed to get out without being seen, the mission was only half way done.

XXX

**Hope you like it, it's a bit longer than the other chapters because I added them braking into the mine here instead of having it in the next chapter, which was the original plan. I got to the end of this one and suddenly realised not much had actually happened, so wanted to add something else in.**

**Let me know what you thought :)**

**R&amp;R :)**


	4. It Begins

**Before you read this chapter, please remember what kind of person Cinder is in the anime, and that I am trying to write her character as close to her as I can for now. She is manipulative. That doesn't mean her attitude to Naruto will not change later on, but for now she will see him as more of an asset than anything else.**

**I know there will be people that don't like this, or the way Naruto reacts to it, but for now this is how I imagine things going. But again, that will change into genuine feelings later in the story, so just give it time.**

**Also, even though he is colder in this fic, this is the same slightly attention starved Naruro.**

**I hope you enjoy :)**

XXX

Disclaimer: I own Nothing :(

XXX

Chapter 4- It Begins

XXX

"I'm impressed, you were better than your word Mr Grim, there is more than enough information here to plan a job in the future."

They were back in what Naruto was starting to call 'The Planning Room', with all but Junior once again in attendance, while Cinder looked over the files and Maps they had copied with a smirk.

"And you got in and out without being seen or leaving any trace?"

"Of course, they have no idea that the mine is compromised, we put everything back the way we found it."

"Good…very good."

While the raven haired teen continued to look over the information, already making plans Naruto was sure, Emerald walked over to him and lay her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"So, you said you'd explain what happened to those workers you knocked out at the mine after the mission, and we're not in the middle of a mission anymore…"

Frowning slightly under his mask when he saw everyone in the room turning their full attention back to him, Naruto thought for a moment before giving a small nod, standing up and walking to the door.

"Follow me, it will be easier if I show you."

Without a word the other five people in the room moved to follow him out, and Naruto walked towards where Junior's men where currently cleaning out a different house to be used for storage, stopping about twenty meters away. Still not saying anything, Naruto made a show of raising his right hand in front of him towards one of the black suited men with his fist clenched shut, before quickly opening his hand wide.

The effect was instantaneous.

The man dropped the box he was carrying, his hands shooting to his throat as if he was chocking something and struggling to breathe, before falling to his knees a moment followed by his face hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Taking his hand away, Naruto ignored the scene behind him as several other men ran over the now unconscious one, to see the slightly shocked faces of the others. In fact, the only two that didn't look surprised were Neo, though he was seriously starting to wonder about the girl's mental state, and Cinder who was smirking at both him and the sight behind him.

"My Semblance is Wind, I control every aspect of it, including the air itself. One of the things I can do with it is to create an air pocket, or bubble if you like, around a person's head and either slowly or instantly remove the oxygen from inside it. Depending on what I need to do, I use it to knock a person out, make them fall asleep, or simple kill them."

Cinder's smirk only seemed to grow at his explanation, her golden eyes seeming to glow for a moment in glee, before stepping forward slightly and walking around him while trailing a hand over his shoulders.

"I see, so that is the secret behind The Grim's mystery kills that never made sense, the ones where people could never figure out how you killed them. I must admit I am even more impressed, and what are the chances that our Semblance would be so…compatible…"

At the last word, Cinder held out her hand in front of his face, a small ball of what seemed like liquid fire forming an inch above her skin. Naruto's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow under his mask, unable to step away from the flame because of the way Cinder was currently wrapped around his shoulder, with her body pressed lightly into his back.

"Your Semblance is Fire…interesting, and your right, Fire and Wind do work well together. Wind feed the Flame, making it burn hotter and stronger, a very dangerous combination…"

Slowly bringing his own hand up, Naruto moved Cinder's away from him, stepping out of her arms. He took several steps away, before turning back to face the now slightly frowning teen, and raising his own hand towards the still burning ball of flame in her hand. He formed a small ball of compressed wind in his own hand, which soon became visible, looking like a smaller grey version of the Rasengan.

Her smirk returning when she saw this, quickly catching on to what he was planning, Cinder threw her fireball into the air, before making it stop about a hundred feet above their heads. Naruto soon followed with his own ball of compressed wind, directing it straight into the slightly larger fireball, and the reaction was instantaneous.

The ball of wind ignited, causing a large explosion as hot air filled the underground city, with only Naruto and Cinder being able to keep their eyes on the explosion as the light and heat got too strong for anyone else to look at directly.

"Oh great, just what we needed, Cinder to have a way to get even _more_ powerful then she already was…"

This comment came from Roman, who despite his words had turned a lot paler then before, sweat falling down his face and not just from the heat of the flames. His word only seemed to make the others smirk, after having gotten over their own shock, Neo actually jumping on the spot like an excited toddler.

Seriously, Naruto was starting to worry about that girl, her attitude was starting to really creep him out.

XXX

"…991…"

Naruto let out a grunt as he pulled himself up again, using the steel bar he had fixed to a wall in his makeshift to do pull-up, his usual grey clock lain to one side as he went through his usual workout routine. He was still wearing his mask, his chest covered by a dark grey sleeveless shirt, and his legs bent at the knees so his feet were off the ground. However, he was also wearing a hood that ended at his shoulder to cover his hair, just in case anyone showed up.

"…992…"

It had been three day's since he, Neo and Emerald had broken into the Schnee Mine, and the lack of anything for him to actually _do _at the moment was starting to make him go stir crazy.

"…993…"

According to Cinder, they were about a three more days away from hitting their first Dust shop in Mistral, but even then there was going to be no need for him. It was a small shop at the edge of the city limits, an easy target to get in and out, and wouldn't take more than a few minutes to clear the place.

"…994…"

This was the problem this long-term missions, the gaps between jobs were so boring, and all Naruto could do to keep himself from punching someone out of boredom was to train constantly.

"…995…"

It wasn't even his day off, a condition of his contract being he had at least one day off a week to do with as he pleased, so he couldn't even go to The Club and unwind. Though the thought of running into Miltiades always put a smile on his face, her offer to get to know each other better was sorely tempting…maybe on his next day off he would make some time…

"…996…"

It was at that moment that his door opened, though Naruto didn't pause in his workout, the he was met with the sight of Cinder leaning on his doorframe. Her usual Smirk was in place, and her golden eyes seemed to be glowing in the dark of his room, Naruto still not having brought any candles, as she watched him lift himself up again.

"…997…Miss Falls, how can I help you."

She waited for a moment, seeming to enjoy the sight before her, before walking into the room, her eyes moving to his blonde spiky hair. It was the first time any of his current co-workers had seen him without his cloak on and hood up, not that he really cared at this point.

"I'm curious, why do you always keep your head covered like that, it must make working out more difficult."

"…998…my hair is too noticeable, I wear the hood to hide it."

Raising an eyebrow, her eyes seeming to move to his stomach, Cinder's smirk only seemed to grow slightly as she moved to sit on one of only two chairs in the room.

"Indeed, I suppose that would be a problem, though you could always cut it into a different style and dye it a different colour."

"…999…I'm saving that as a last resort, that way if I ever need to disappear, it will be easier to dull down my appearance. Change my hair, couple of contact lenses, you'd be surprised at how the little things can make a large difference…1000!"

With his target number met, Naruto let himself drop back to the ground, before he started going through a few basic stretches like he did between each set to loosen his muscles up before starting on the next one.

"So why are you here anyway?"

Cinder made a show of crossing her left leg over her right, the red dress she wore lifting up slightly higher, showing even more leg.

"Maybe I just wanted to talk, you are such a mystery after all, and a girl get curious about things."

Her words brought a small smirk to the blonde's lips under his mask, but he showed no outward sign of reacting to them as he continued his stretches, before dropping down to the ground and doing press-ups, though this time he counted in his head.

"You don't seem to the type to care about pleasantries, someone who is willing to start a war for profit wouldn't care about talking to people, so much as the time wasted in doing so that could have been used for something more productive."

"True, I don't usually care for getting to know people, but we are going to be working together for a while so it would be a good idea to learn a little more about each other."

"I'm not working with you, I'm working _for _you, and there is a difference. You're paying me for my time, skills and knowledge, not my companion ship. When our contract runs out, I will go my way and you will go yours, simple as that."

There was a moment of silence as Naruto continued his press-ups, Cinder seeming to take in his words, before switching her legs over.

"And what if, hypothetically…I wanted to rehire you after the contract expired. Extend your time with use so to speak…"

"I don't usually do that, but we will have to wait and see when the time comes, if I have a reason to stick around I will, if not I'm gone."

"Well…one reason would be that it would take us longer than the year in our contract to complete the job, if you stuck around I could cut you in on the end profit…"

"True, but if we start a war between the kingdoms, I will have a lot more job opportunities. War is always good for the mercenary business, especially for one that has no problem switching side after each job is complete and has no loyalty to any one side, I could probably make a good profit myself."

Again there was silence, and after a moment Naruto looked over to his raven haired employer, seeing the contemplating expression on her face. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about, or why she seemed so fixated on convincing him to stay on after his contract, but for now he wasn't really worried.

It wasn't the first time a client had tried to convince him to stay on with them fulltime, a few mob bosses had made some very good offers, but normally people waited until later in the contract to make the offer.

"Any reason in particular we are having this conversation, Miss Cinder…?"

"Of course not, I was only speaking hypothetically…but just out of curiosity, what would convince you to stay passed your contract?"

Naruto actually took a moment to consider the question, though he didn't stop his workout, before looking back to the teen.

"I guess…if I was given the right offer…"

Seeming to take in his words, Cinder nodded her head, before getting to her feet and moving towards the door.

"…I see."

XXX

The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, Cinder was met by Neapolitan, Emerald and Mercury, Roman was currently overseeing the clean-up of another building. As she came to a stop in front of them, Cinder was brought out of her contemplation on the conversation she had just had with the mercenary by her green haired friend, who was leaning on a wall to her right.

"So, did you convince him to stick around after the contract? After seeing him in action, I can honestly say he is a good guy to have on hand, a little stoic maybe but he doesn't know us yet."

"While he didn't agree outright, neither did ne refuse, all we need to do is 'make him the right offer'…"

This time it was Mercury that spoke, moving to stand next to her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"And just what _is_ the 'right offer', exactly?"

"I don't know…"

A small frown marred Cinders face for a moment, but was quickly replace by her usual smirk, as she started walking away from the group.

"But we have a year to find out, with time I am sure we will find it, and when we do he will join us permanently."

Without waiting for a reply, the raven haired teen continued to walk away, heading towards the old train tracks. She was still thinking about what the teen said about them being a strategic weakness in Vale's defences, trying to think of ways they could use it to its fullest, but so far nothing solid had come to mind.

Cinder still didn't know what to make of the teen, and she was sure he was a teen the same age or even a little younger than her, his voice was just too young and body in too good a condition for him to be any older. He was powerful, that much she had already know, but from what Emerald had told her he was even more _skilled_. The difference between power and skill was hard to see at the best of times, but then it came together into one person like The Grim, it was a scary concept.

He even had the Semblance of Wind, her elemental partner, something that could increase her own already extraordinary power to new heights she had never even dreamed of. Cinder was not an overconfident person, she was well aware of her limits, but she was even more aware of her strengths. The Grim played to her strengths, more so then anything she had seen before now, and together they could even be unstoppable.

If only he had ambition like she did.

But that was just it, Cinder could see that he didn't have any ambition in life, and was simple happy to remain in his current place in it. If she had to guess, losing the people from his old village had left the boy empty inside, empty with nothing left to fill the void.

He had been a solider, undoubtedly trained to believe that to protect his village and the people in it was his purpose in life, but now he had nothing. A solider without a cause, with nothing to fight for, nothing to _live_ for. It was just one of the reasons child soldiers had been outlawed in the four kingdoms, when a child is raised from such a young age with such a purpose forced into their psyche, it caused problems when they lost what they were trained for.

Even today, retired Soldiers had been known to commit suicide after being relieved of duty. They lost the will to live, because they had nothing to live and fight _for_, eventually wasting away to nothing.

But The Grim didn't waste away, he had been hardened by his lost into something stronger than ever, something…wait that was it!

A large grin spread across Cinder's Face as her thought lead her to the answer she needed, the offer that would convince a solider without a cause stick around. She needed to give him something to fight for, something to live for…something he would be willing to _die _for.

XXX

The day they were planning to have the first heist, which just so happened to be on his day off, Naruto decided that even though he wasn't going to be involved he still wanted to see the store for himself. So with this in mind, the blonde teen disappeared without a word, and arrived several hours before they were planning to make their move. It was the middle of the day, the street was busy with people going about their lives, but Naruto had no interest in anything going on around him and simple made his way to the shop.

Because he relied mostly on his Aura and Semblance, Naruto had never needed to use Dust, his only real weapon for the past year being the switchblade he took from that mugger so long ago. He had considered using fire Dust once for a job that required he blow something up, but in the end didn't actually need it, he found an easier way. All it took in the end was for him to increase the oxygen level in the air and light a match, the effect was the same, and there was nothing for anyone to trace back to a source.

The shop he stood in now was small, little more than a counter with pipes holding Dust behind it, and a small display of weapons on the floor. There was also a young lady, maybe in her early twenties, with black hair and a bored expression on her face behind the counter. She didn't even look up as he walked in, just staring at the magazine on the table in front of her, leaning on her hand with her elbow next to it.

Naruto ignored her as he looked at the weapons on display, from daggers and axes, to swords and oddly enough whips. All seeming to have some king of gun or secondary weapon hidden inside them, some better than others, but still more advanced than anything they had had in the Elemental Nations.

He had considered taking up a Dust weapon, still did from time to time, but most were so distinctive it would make it easy for someone to identify him from it, if not at least easier. It wasn't like he actually needed on anyway, he could use the wind to form as many blades as he wanted, and they were only visible if he wanted them to be.

Then again, there was more than one way to use Dust, like how Cinder had it woven into her dress to increase her power over Fire. Maybe he should look into getting something like a cloak, or even a pair of gloves made to do the same for him, only based on wind? It was something to considered, and he was in no rush, but Naruto would be sure to ask her about t sometime.

The shop really was an easy target, why someone hadn't robbed it already was anyone's guess, but it didn't really matter. They weren't after the money, though after talking to Cinder Naruto had convinced her to have the men doing the job take it anyway, if for no other reason than it would help hide the fact they were trying to stockpile Dust. While it would be quicker to just take the Dust and run, it would be more suspicious, and for the moment they wanted to remain under the radar.

Having seen his fill, not that there was much to be seen anyway, Naruto left the small store and decided to wonder the streets for something to do. It was while he was doing this, that a poster caught his attention, along with the small crowd of people surrounding it.

Moving closer, Naruto saw that it was a poster announcing that the final of some kind of competition would be held later that day, and after reading it the blonde couldn't keep the small smile off of his face.

XXX

Naruto sat quietly in his seat as the people around him roared and cheered, his eyes focused on the two people walking into the ring, though the fact they were both teens was a little surprising.

The first, a white haired boy with a large build, heavy armour and a giant broad sword with what looked like cannons running along both side of the blade, was waving to the crowd with a confident smile on his face. The other was a girl, her long red hair tied into a ponytail, with lighter bronze armour and a sword/spear/gun for a weapon and a shield. She had a small, self-conscious smile on her face, and her wave to the crowd was a lot weaker than the boy's.

Based on first impression, Naruto like her better, the boy was too boastful and was playing to the crowd. He seemed to like the attention, while the girl was just uncomfortable with it, to him that spoke a lot about both their characters.

From what Naruto knew about these tournaments, the two would fight until one of their Aura's fell into the 'red', at which point the one with the most left would be the winner. The blonde could feel both teens Aura's from where he was sat, and while the boy had a larger one, the girls felt more controlled. It would be a close match, but he would put his money on the girl, the boy seemed to be little more than a Tank.

Naruto knew from experience that a Tank was better suited to multiple enemies on a battlefield, but the girl was more skilled in small numbers combat, she would outmanoeuvre him at every turn. He also got a strange feeling from the girl, similar to metal, but not different. Maybe he was feeling her Semblance?

The fight soon started, and just like he predicted the girl dominated the fight at every turn, the boy's swings being both slow and clumsy. In fact, several time he would actually lose his balance after a swing, barely missing the red headed girl by an inch before stumbling. The sight made the blonde frown slightly, while he had expected it to be a one sided match, this was pathetic.

It was then, after a swing Naruto knew for a fact the girl didn't have time to avoid it, that he saw something. Just as the blade was about to hit, the girl gave a small wave of her lightly glowing hand, and it veered off course and missed her completely. The sight brought a wide grin to his whiskered face, so that was her trick, he was starting to like this girl.

Her Semblance was something to do with metal, Magnetism maybe from what he could feel and had seen, and she was using it in such a subtle way that no one else even realised she was doing it. The girl may dress and look like an amazon warrior, but she fought like a Kunoichi, controlling the fight completely while hiding her true power.

It actually made him slightly homesick.

While the winner was clear from the start, at least to Naruto's eyes, it still took the girl some time to ware down the boy's large Aura. But ware him down she did, without taking a single hit he might add, and eventually the boy fell to his knees in exhaustion.

It had been an interesting fight, though completely one sided, and Naruto made sure to file the girls name away for later then they announced her the winner.

Pyrrha Nikos, it was a name he was going to remember…

XXX

Naruto watched later that night as the men Cinder hired from Junior came back from robing the Dust shop, a small frown on his face as they gloated about how easy it was, like it was some huge accomplishment. It would have been funny, if it wasn't so sad, and Naruto could only shake his head.

He could see Cinder was having similar thought to his own, the raven haired teen standing with her arms crossed next to him, her own frown in place.

"Pathetic aren't they, boasting over such a small accomplishment, when it barely deserves acknowledgment…"

He saw her golden eyes move to look at him, the frown on her face being replaced by a smirk at his words, one hand moving to her cheek as she leaned her head on it slightly as she continued to watch the men loading the Dust canisters into one of the cleared out homes.

"Indeed, though considering the quality of the men Junior is known to hire, I suppose it is to be expected. They so rarely do something right, maybe we should let them have their moment, however fleeting it may be…"

Taking a moment to think over her words, Naruto gave a small nod, before having an idea.

"Your right, let them have their moment, but also let them have the money they took from the store."

He watched as one of Cinder's delicate eyebrows lifted slightly at his words, before she turned to face him completely, the smirk still in place.

"I'm listening…"

"Like you said, they rarely get things right, so we should reward them when they do. Let them keep the money from the Dust shops they hit, you weren't planning on taking it in the first place anyway before I suggested it, as incentive to keep doing good. I've seen the way Junior yells at his men when they mess up, but he never gives them compliments when they do a job right, a little positive reinforcement might be just the thing they need. It will also set you apart from Junior, and over time they may even be more loyal to you then to him, while they may not be the strongest henchmen you never know when you might need the numbers…"

He saw the way her eyes lit up at the last part of his explanation, the way they were glowing telling him she like the idea of taking the men's loyalty for her own, before she gave a small nod of agreement.

"I like it, and your right the money they took is meaningless to me, nothing but a small drop in the sea of profit we will make when this is over. Once again I am impressed, your advice and insight is proving to be invaluable, and without it things would not be running so smoothly."

Naruto couldn't keep the smile off of his face at her compliment, once again thankful that the mask hid his face, he really needed to work on keeping his facile expressions under control.

"I'm sure you would have been fine without me."

"I'm not, you have no idea just how much I am coming to rely on you and your advice, and you are a good bored to bounce ideas off of. Emerald and Mercury are god fighters, and I trust them to do what I need them to, but they don't understand the planning that goes into something like this. Roman, while smart and can get things done, isn't suited for it either and is more a follower then even he likes to admit. And as for Neo…well as you know, she isn't the most talkative person, and sometimes I do wonder about her, but she makes a good enforcer. You really are the only person I can talk to and rely on for things like this…"

Naruto was suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable now, not being used to such high praise from someone, not even after the Pain invasion. But at the same time, he like the feeling her words gave him, the fact that she trusted him above the people she already knew for years. It was nice to feel…useful? Needed? No, wanted, Cinder made him feel wanted.

It was…different then what he was used to.

XXX

Even though the mask covered his face and his voice stayed the same monotone she usually held, Cinder could see that her words were having an effect on The Grim, his body language practically screaming at her.

It was just like she suspected, he was a solider without a reason or person to fight for, and from just how much her praise was effecting him she could tell that he wasn't used to it. That told her that he was trained in a way that the people above him simple expected him to do well, so there was no reason to praise his efforts when he did, which explained his point about positive reinforcement, he was talking from experience, _his_ experience, and it only made her more willing to follow his advice on this point.

Cinder would admit, while not overly impressed by Junior's men, it couldn't hurt to have their loyalty. After all, paying someone only gets you so far, but if you could make them love you, that person would be willing to die for you.

Smirking at the mercenary's slightly stiff posture, Cinder took a step closer to him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder as she stepped behind him to his other side. She was impressed that it only made him stiffen slightly more, instead of the shiver she was used to seeing form men, it was just another example of how different he was.

"Even though we are only at the beginning of our contract, I am already dreading you leaving, I'm not sure what I will do when you are not here for me to talk to…"

Interesting, there was the shiver, though it wasn't because of the way her body was pressing into his, but her words. He really was starved for acknowledgment, and the more she gave, the more he would want to stay by her side. She leaned in and whispered the last part in his ear, enjoying the feeling of him shuddering as her warm breath brushed his ear, only to frown when he pulled away from her and started to leave.

"I am here because of our contract, nothing more, when it has run its course I will leave…"

Her frown still in place as he walked away without a glance back, it was replaced a moment later by her usual smirk, her eyes following the teen as he disappeared around a corner.

"Run all you like, Mr Grim, the chase will just make it all the more sweet when I win you over. One way or another, I will have you at my side, no matter how long or what it takes…"

XXX

**Hope you liked the chapter, it actually went better than I was expecting in my opinion, but I want to know what you all thought about it. I wasn't sure if I would be able to right Naruto and Cinder's interactions right, but I think what I did work, so I am happy with this chapter.**

**I already have a plan for what Naruto will be doing when this fic catches up to the anime, though when that will happen I am not sure at this point. Originally I planned to have it there by this point, but decided to keep building on Naruto's interactions with people before coming to it.**

**Please let me know what you think, I always like to see the reviews people leave me, even constructive criticism, everything helps but Flames. :)**

**R&amp;R :)**


	5. Dancing…and Other Forms of Exercise

**I will say this now, I have no confidence in my ability to write a Lemon, and so I will not try to do so. There will be plenty of suggestive themes, and mention of sex, but I will not ruin the story by adding a half-arse Lemon that will not work or sound right.**

**Sorry if this disappoints anyone, but I really just cannot right the things…**

**Also, form the limited information I was able to gather on Adam Taurus, I have tried to write his character the best I can. He will be in later chapters, seeing as he eventually joins Cinder and the others at some point in cannon, so sorry if I made any mistakes. I also already have an idea for his Semblance, based on the information I found, though will net go into any more details yet.**

**Now, there have been a few people asking if he can fly, my answer to that is…maybe. (evil grin).**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter :)**

XXX

Disclaimer: I own Nothing :(

XXX

Chapter 5- Dancing…and Other Forms of Exercise

XXX

It took a month before Naruto was able to arrange a meeting with someone from the White Fang, and even then he wasn't able to confirm if they were the actual leader, or just high up in the food chain. It didn't help that he made it clear both he and the people he was working for were humans, it wouldn't do any good if they found out later and thought he was trying to trick them, but Naruto knew it needed to be done.

He was however, able to confirm that the man he was meetings name was Adam Taurus, and that he was a firm believer in the group's new violent methods.

The fact was the only reason they were giving him the time of day was because of his reputation as The Grim, and the fact he offered them a way to strike out at the Schnee family, who were well known for their use of cheap Faunus labour. Naruto was sure there were member of the White Fang that would sell their soul for a chance to hurt the largest Dust operation in Remnant, and if nothing else it got their attention enough to agree to meet him, but only him.

Naruto was given directions to a random part in the Grimm country, somewhere in a wide open field, where he was told he would be meeting two members of the White Fang, one of which would be this Adam Taurus. He was also told that the area would be surrounded by other members, each of them holding a gun pointed at him, and that if he made any move they didn't like he would be shot to pieces.

He had Cinder drop him off about a mile away from the meeting place, where she would wait until he returned with their answer, assuming they didn't kill him. After that, he walked the last mile at a sedate pass, already knowing he was being watched after using the Wind to scout the area.

The clearing he was meeting them was at the edge of a forest, the trees casing a large wall of shadow on the ground, and Naruto stopped at the edge of it was if it were an actually wall.

His first sight of the two Faunus was when they came out from behind a tree, one red haired teen with horns, a mask covering the top half of his face with red symbols on it and a katana on his hip. The other was a girl, also a teen, dressed in black with a strange sword on her back and a plain white Grimm mask covering the top of her face. She also had a black bow in her hair, which Naruto noticed would twitch every few seconds, like cat ears.

He had stopped about twenty feet away from the two, letting them close the distance as they like, which they did before stopping ten feet away from him. The red headed teen, who he assumed was Adam, didn't take his hand off his weapon since he came into sight.

"What information do you have?"

So that was it, they thought he would just _give_ them the information, this could get interesting.

"I will only give you the information after I have given you my offer, after that you can decide if you will accept it or not, and we can part ways as if this meeting never happened."

Apparently this wasn't the answer Adam wanted to hear, and Naruto saw he was about to draw his katana, before the girl grabbed his shoulder and shook her head. This seemed to calm the boy down, though not by much, and he grit his teeth before turning back to the masked blonde, his hand still clenching the hilt of his sword.

"The White Fang had no interest in doing business with humans, we just want the information you said you had, so hand it over or I'll signal the others hidden out of sight to open fire and take it from your corpse!"

"Adam, calm down, what harm is there is listening to what he has to say?"

"I'd listen to her if I were you Mr Taurus, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and is not letting her emotions dictate her actions like you. As for your back-up, I already took care of them while you were talking…"

Both teens' heads shot to face him at those words, before Adam lifted his hand up in a fist, only for nothing to happen. Seeming to realise he was telling the truth, both fell into battle stances, the girl standing slightly behind Adam as she spoke in a cold voice.

"What did you do to them?"

"I merely knocked them out, they will regain consciousness by the time we are done, and will suffer no ill effects. Though if you had not threated to double-cross me before even hearing me out, I would not have done it in the first place…I don't like it when people try to betray my trust…"

He could see his words were having an effect on the two, though Adam only seemed to be getting angrier by the second, and look ready to attack. If it wasn't for the girl, Naruto was sure he would have, but like before she proved to be the voice of reason. The moment she dropped her stance and grabbed his shoulder, the red headed teen again relaxed, if only slightly.

"Fine! What is your offer!?"

Nodding his head to the girl in gratitude, Naruto smiled under his mask, he could see why she was sent to meet him alongside Adam.

"My current employer is planning to steal and stockpile Dust, and while starting small so as not to be noticed, by the end of the year they plan to take on bigger targets. These bigger targets include the Schnee supply trains and one of their larger mines in the east of remnant, for which I have already stolen the necessary information needed to accomplish such a venture, and would like to offer you a place in their ranks."

"Why the hell would we want to work for a human, or with them for that matter?"

"Because it would mean being able to strike out against the Schnee Family where it hurts, their pockets, and the pay my employer is offering you and anyone else who joins them would be enough to help fund your efforts for several years to come."

This time he could actually see the gears in Adam's head turning as he took in this information, proving that the teen could at least put his personal feelings aside for a moment to consider his options, though his hand was still on his hilt ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

It was the girl that spoke first, Adam seeming happy to let her ask a few questions as he finally calmed down enough to think clearly, and stepped forward so she was next to the red headed teen.

"If we agreed to this, and that is a big _if_, what would your employer have us do? And why are they planning to stockpile Dust in the first place?"

"They would have you assist in the hijacking of the supple trains, the attack on the Dust mine when the time comes, and possible the movement of the Dust we have stolen. There may be more, but it is not for me to reveal their plans, you would need to ask them yourself and they will only meet you if you agree to join them."

"Why come to us at all?"

"Because I suggested we reach out to you."

This seemed to get both teens full attention, even bringing Adam out of his silenced contemplation, before the horned teen frowned.

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because you are a group of powerful people with useful skills that would only help further my employer's plans."

Again, this time it as the girl who spoke, her voice slightly unsure as the conversation went on.

"And the fact we are a group of Faunus means nothing to you?"

"I see no reason why it should, I have worked for many people in the past year, both human and Faunus, and have kill both for missions. In that time a came to an important discovery about our two races, one that although I did not need, still only confirms what I already knew."

This seemed to once again get their attention, and after a minute, Adam gave into his curiosity and asked.

"What did you discover?"

"Humans…Faunus…they both have the same capacity for great hate and great love. They both have the potential to destroy each other and themselves, and raise above their limits. And most importantly…both bleed red and die the same way when I kill them. To me, there is no difference between Humans and Faunus, it matters not to me if a person has animal features because we are all the same under the skin."

While his words seemed to disturb the girl, who had taken a step back at his casual mention of killing, they seemed to have stricken a chord with Adam. For the first time since they the meeting began, the teen took his hand away from the hilt of his katana, a smirk appearing on his uncovered lips as he took in Naruto full for the first time, as if only now really seeing him.

"You know what, I'm actually starting to like this guy…"

Adam's words didn't seem to please his black haired companion, because even though the top half of her face was covered by the mask, Naruto could still see the worried look she sent to the horned teen behind his back.

However, the blonde felt it important to make one more thing clear before they made a decision, knowing that if he didn't, it could come back to bite them later.

"I should warn you though, that my thoughts are not shared by all of the people I currently work for, and some do have hostility to your race. While my employer is indifferent to Faunus as a whole, others in their ranks are not, I will not hide the fact you may be forced to work with people that consider you inferior because of what you are."

His words brought frowns to both teen's faces, but at least this time Adam didn't explode, and Naruto got the feeling the frowns weren't directed at him so much as the 'people' he mentioned.

After staying silent for a few minutes, Adam finally seemed to come to some kind of decision, before fixing his star back on the masked blonde.

"You said the plans to attack the trains and mine wouldn't start until later in the year…correct?"

Naruto gave a silent nod.

"Then we will give you our answer closer to when you will be starting to attack them, for now we will remain neutral, and not get involved but I will contact you myself in seven months with our final answer. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes, you have a number at which to reach me when the time comes, I will await your call until then. Until then, take this as a good faith gesture."

Reaching inside his cloak, Naruto pulled out a file with information on one to the Schnee Family supple trains for later in the year, before dropping it on the ground between them. The information was of little use to Cinder, the train scheduled for a few months before she planned to start hitting the bigger target, so Naruto had suggested they give it to the White Fang to 'sweeten the pot'.

"Just remember, you don't have to work for my client, but if you try and double-cross me again, next time I will do more than knock your people out…"

Without another word, Naruto turned his back on the two teens and, using the Wind to help increase his speed disappeared. Moving faster than the normal eye could follow, leaving behind a small trail of wind, and a whistling sound.

XXX

"How did it go?"

Naruto waited until he was strapped into his seat and the Bullhead was in the air before answering Cinder, wanting to make sure they were out of hearing range from any Faunus with better than normal hearing.

"Not perfect, but better than I was hoping for, I didn't have to kill anyone or fight my way out so that is a bonus. The guy they sent to meet me was a hothead, but the girl with him proved to be to voice of reason, they will consider the offer and get back to me in seven months. The information about the supply train should help things along though."

"I see…"

He watched as the raven haired girl thought over his words, her eyes idly staring out the window as the landscape shot beneath them almost too fast to see, a small frown on her face.

Cinder hadn't stop trying to talk Naruto into staying passed his contract since that night after the first Dust shop robbery, though she had been subtle about it, and Naruto wasn't sure what to think. While he was used to clients trying to keep him around, Cinder was defiantly the most persistent, and they weren't even half-way through the year contract yet! What would she be like later when time was running out?

He would admit he like the praise she gave him, the way she kept trying to make contact with his skin, and even just the feeling of her relying on his advice. Not that he didn't know what she was trying to do, they had been told about using Seduction back in the academy, and Jiraiya had made sure Naruto could spot someone trying to use it on him from a mile away.

But at the same time, he actually liked that she would use such tactic one him, it made him feel more at home around her when she acted like a Kunoichi. The fact to told him a lot about just how much she wanted to keep him around if she was going to such lengths also went a long way to making him smile, sometime he would laugh internally at some of the things she would try against him, the fact he knew what she was doing only making it more amusing.

He even showed them some of his most use abilities, ones that they would have seen eventually anyway whole he was working for them, to convince them to trust him more. While it may not have been the smartest move to explain what he could do, Naruto made sure to keep most of his power hidden, any they were none the wiser.

He made sure to keep his usual different attitude when Cinder did anything like to try and manipulate him though, not wanting her to think him weak to her advances, he had a reputation to keep after all. But at the same time, while she thought it was working even a little, she was predictable, so Naruto gave off the odd hint that he was being effected by her charm.

Then again, the only reason his act was so believable was because of Jiraiya, if his Godfather hadn't forced him to break out of the habit around girls. Say what you would about the perv and his teaching method, but even Naruto would admit that training was useful, even if it mentally scared him because he was only thirteen when the man took him to his first strip club.

On second thought, dame the pervert, dame him to hell!

"I guess it is the best we could have hoped for, and the information you gave them was of no use to us anyway, though I will want a full rundown of everything that happened."

_Us_

That was another thing she had started doing, though Naruto wasn't sure if Cinder even noticed it herself, she never seemed to try and put any emphasis on it anyway. She had started using the word 'us' inside of 'my' when talking, as if he was already more than a hired gun or something, and it was actually that word more than anything that was starting to win the blonde over.

He wasn't at the point he would actually stick around at the end of his contract yet, but it was a step in the right direction.

"Of course, Mr Taurus was more than a little heated when the meeting started, and threatened to have his backup shoot me so he could take the information before hearing me out. But was stopped by the girl, though I don't know her name she seemed to be some kind Cat Faunus, and I use the distortion to knockout the other Faunus the usual way. The girl was and is the voice of reason for Mr Taurus, without her he would have attacked me outright, but by the end of our conversation his attitude had changed. He became a lot more level-headed, and was willing to listen to me, though from what I saw he has a bloodlust problem."

"I see, you did good Mr Grim, not that I expected anything else."

"Of course"

The rest of the trip they remained silent, Naruto happy to just watch the landscape go by, while Cinder continued to stare at him with that same smirk that seemed almost permanently fixed to her lips.

XXX

Despite it not being his first day off, it was the first time Naruto had been back to The Club since he had started working for Cinder, and the first thing he did after ordering a drink was to use his Wind to carry an envelope behind the bar to the usual place. He was being paid on a weekly basis, so there was a little built up, enough to keep Junior happy that he had taken some of the man's business from him. Then again, it seemed the information broker was in on the plan anyway, though at this point he was keeping his involvement to a minimal until they stopped using his men, they were too easy to track back to him.

The music was as loud as ever, the lights still gave him a headache, and the people still look ridicules trying to dance as the bear headed DJ continued to bob his head to the music he was playing. But Naruto had to admit, he had missed the place…and there was one of his favourite things about it.

Dressed in the same dress as usual, small smirk on her lips and pale green eyes shining, was none other than Miltia. The moment the girl saw him looking at her she licked her lips, whispered something to her sister that made her smirk slightly too, before separating and walking over to him with a sway to her hips.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in, and here I was afraid I'd scared you off last time. Naughty you, keeping a girl waiting like that…"

Smirking as he turned his chair to face her completely, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the slight pout she was giving him, it looked so adorable yet sexy at the same time.

"Sorry about that, had to leave town on business, as it is I'm only here until tomorrow."

Pout still in place, the red twin moved forward and set herself on his lap, her face inches away from his own and her arms reaching behind his head.

"Well…I guess that excuse isn't _too_ bad, but I think I still need to punish you…_somehow_."

Before he had time to think over to word, Miltia grabbed his hand, hopped off his lap, and started dragging him to the dance floor. Naruto had never been much a dance, according to Jiraiya he always looked like a headless chicken, but he didn't really need to be for this kind of dancing.

The moment they reached the dance floor, the red twin started grinding against him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck to stop him putting any more than an inch of space between their noises. His own hands moved down to her hips, pulling her close to his, matching her movements. Miltia twisted her body so that her back was facing him, but her arms didn't move from their place, still holding his face next to hers as her Arse ground into his groin.

For the first time since he started coming to The Club, Naruto understood the appeal of the loud music and flashing lights, they had an almost hypnotic effect as the two moved together. At some point Naruto's breathes started to come in pants, his noses pressed into point where her neck met her shoulder, taking in the smell of her perfume.

At some point Miltia turned herself back around, one hand moving to his cheek to keep his face close, while the other moved down his body and snaked under his shirt. The feel of her fingers running along his skin sent a shiver up his spine, and want to return the favour one of Naruto's hands moved from her hip, down to her arse and started kneading it.

Based on her gasp, and the way she suddenly started grinding into him with even more than before, Naruto took that to mean he made the right choice.

The hand running along his stomach moved around to his back, never leave his skin, before suddenly dropping down and into his pants. He gave a slight jump when the hand grabbed his right butt cheek, her fingers digging in, and her grip like an iron vice.

He sent her a playful glare, but it only made her smirk grow, before she made a show of very slowly licking her lips. The sight made him want nothing more than to crush his own against them, if for no other reason than to see what they tasted like, but decided to settle for pressing his forehead into hers and pulling her even closer.

He wouldn't be the first one to brake, not if he could help it, anyway. Miltia seemed to pick up on his thoughts a moment later, her smirk falling slightly as her eyes narrowed at him, before coming back full force and grinding into him harder and faster.

This was the start a of type of fight Naruto had never experience before, each trying to outdo the other, determined not to be the first to brake. Within the first five minutes both were heavily panting, eyes alight with desire, but still determined not to brake.

In the end, they would never find out who would have broken first.

Before they could take it any further, they were interrupted by the arrival of the white twin Melanie. She looked as indifferent as always, though Naruto could see her eyes going up and down his body, her lips turning up slightly at the edges.

"If you two are finished playing grab arse, I already told Junior we were taking the night off, so I suggest we go before he changes his mind."

"Wait…'we'?"

Naruto watched as the girls sent each other a knowing smirk, before the red twin leaned closer so she could whisper in his ear, her warm breath hitting his skin.

"Of course, my sister and I share everything…"

His mind going into shutdown at the meaning of her words, Naruto barely notice as Miltia slipped off out of his arms and move to stand with her sister, linking arms before turning and walking away. After they had gone a few feet, Melanie turned to look at him over her shoulder, one of her eyebrows raised when she saw him still frozen in place.

"Are you coming or not?"

Her words snapped him out of his mind, and after shaking his head like a dog, Naruto moved to follow them with a large smirk on his face.

Maybe this world wasn't so bad after all.

XXX

Cinder frown when she came to find The Grim, only to find he wasn't in the home he had set aside for himself, and turned to look somewhere else.

She knew it had been his day off the day before, but even on the days he disappeared since he started working for her, he had always been there the next day without fail. It wasn't that she was worried or anything, he could handle himself just fine, but she _was_ still paying him for the moment…Yes, that was it, she wanted her money's worth before she convinced him to stay on after the contract ended, nothing else.

Her frown only increased when she didn't find him near the train tracks, or the store rooms, or the makeshift training ground they had built for him to use. He wasn't even in the mess hall with the others when she checked, and that was the last place she could think to check, and by this point her frown and morphed into a full on scowl.

This did not go unnoticed by the other people moving around the base, who started to avoid the raven haired teen as she stormed around the underground base, her golden eyes alight as she searched every building.

"Where the hell is he!?"

"Were you always this loud in the mornings?"

Her glare still in place, Cinder spun around with a fireball in her hand, ready to melt whoever it was that spoke only to pause when she saw who it was. It was a matter of pride for Cinder that she was rarely surprised by people sneaking up on her, but it seemed The Grim was determined to knock that out of her, even if he didn't realise he was doing it.

She quickly took in his appearance, his slightly ruffled cloths looking as if they had been thrown on in a hurry, and a steaming cup of what smelled like _very_ strong coffee in his hand. How he was drinking if while still wearing a mask, Cinder did not know, and had a feeling it would be better for her sanity if she didn't spend too much time thinking about it.

So quickly letting the fireball fade away, Cinder put a small frown on her lips as she glared into the red lenses of his mask, trying to see behind them to his actual eyes.

"Mr Grim? Where were you?"

The teen stretched his arms over his head, groaning slightly as the bones clicked loudly, before turning his attention back to her. She could almost feel the tire expression on his face behind his mask.

"Yeah sorry I'm late, I had a…long night. Went out clubbing, had a bit to drink and hooked up with a girl. Wasn't until later that things got real interesting, turns out she wanted to bring her sister alone…I didn't get much sleep."

Cinder's mouth and throat suddenly went bone dry at his words, the retaught she was about to send at him dying before it could get out, her mind hitting a metaphorical wall. He had spent the night with some random sluts…he had been with them all night.

She felt sick at the thought, though didn't know why, and her hands started shaking at her side as they balled into fists.

But it seemed The Grim didn't notice any of this, and just continued talking.

"Anyway sorry I'm late, didn't feel right to just leave in the middle of the night, so I stuck around till morning, and then made them breakfast before heading back."

Her eyes narrowing, flames licking the edges of her fingers, Cinder grit her teeth to keep herself from screaming at the teen.

"You were late because you hooked up with a pair of random sluts? I'm not paying you to fuck around, I'm paying you to be here and do as I say, I expect better from you."

The moment the words left her lips, Cinder knew they had been a mistake, even if she could see his face his body language spoke loudly to what he thought of her them.

"It was my day off, what I do with it is none of your business, and I was only an hour late. I also don't appreciate you insulting people when you don't know who you are insulting, and suggest you think before speaking from now on I will make up the time on my next day off, so don't worry you will still get your money's worth."

She wanted to say more but knew she didn't have a leg to stand on, he was right, he could do whatever and whoever he like.

She didn't own him.

Yet…

XXX

**This chapter ended up being a little shorter then I usually do, but this seemed like a good place to end it, sorry.**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter :)**

**R&amp;R :)**


	6. Dust Cloth

**Cinder will eventually find out who Naruto slept with, though not for a few chapters at least, so look forward to that :)**

**I hope you enjoy :)**

XXX

Disclaimer: I own Nothing :(

XXX

Chapter 6- Dust Cloth

XXX

Cinder decided that a 'tactical retreat' was her best option at this point, partly to avoid the situation escalating even further out of her control, but mostly because she needed to think. This situation had brought a few things to the forefront of her mind, things that needed to be gone over in private, where she could fully examine everything.

Having excused herself, though she didn't offer any kind of apology, it would only be a sign of weakness at this point and she was sure The Grim would not appreciate such an empty gesture anyway, Cinder quickly retreated to her own temporary home within the underground base,

It was nicer than the others, being use to a certain degree of comfort she had made sure it was up to her standards, and even had a small generator to provide power for the house and a boiler. Though the first was mostly so that she could keep an eye on the news, the second was because she liked to have a nice bath at the end of the day, it helped her calm down.

Moving towards the expensive leather armchair across from her front door, her glass shoes making almost on sound on the carpeted floor, Cinder carefully lowered herself into the cold chair and crossed her legs while a hand moved to her cheek to lean on.

She had always liked this chair.

It wasn't until she was comfortable that Cinder allowed herself to think over what had just happened, a small frown on her lips, and her golden eyes seeming to burn a hole in the door.

She should not have reacted like that to the knowledge that The Grim had 'hooked up', to use his own words, with a couple of random girls on his night off. It had been stupid, and childish, and if she had not stopped herself could have ruined her plans to get him to stay after their contract expired. As it stood, she already needed to do some damage control, and would need to find a way to smooth over this little hiccup.

But that wasn't the most pressing thing she needed to address at the moment.

No what needed to be thought over was the fact that after what had just happened, Cinder came to the conclusion that she was becoming possessive over the mercenary, but had no actual claim over him beyond their current contract. Cinder was a smart woman, she knew what she wanted, and wasn't afraid to take it by any means necessary.

This experience had simple shown her that she wanted The Grim, and not just as part of her team…Honestly, she was a little disappointed for not realising this sooner, but then again she had been busy planning to cause a war between the Kingdoms so she would cut herself some slack this time.

He was her equal, if not her better even if she would never admit to it out loud, both mentally and physically.

They even had compatible Semblance, though she also knew if he want, the mercenary could stop her using her flames. He had already proven that removing the oxygen from the air was child paly for him, and her flames needed oxygen, but that wasn't important.

While not the overly romantic type, in some ways she felt like they were meant to meet. He was the Wind, free and relentless, finding the cracks and weakness in all that stood before him. She was Fire, passionate and strong, devouring all that gets in her way. Alone they were strong, but together… they could be unstoppable…they completed each other in a way Cinder didn't even know she was incomplete. Not until he had come into her life.

He was strong, brilliant, and from what little she had seen of his body when he worked out a nice bit of eye candy. All the things she was looking for in a man, at least they would have been if she had ever been bothered to look before now, and he was right in front of her.

Yes…she wanted The Grim, wanted all of him for herself. His mind, his body, and as stupid as it sounded, yes even his soul. The thought of someone else touching what was rightfully hers made her blood boil slightly, and the only reason she was still in control was because, despite this knew realisation on her part, he didn't know he was her yet. But he would be hers, Cinder would make sure of it, but until then she would overlook this incident.

That didn't mean she wasn't going to try and stop it happening again, of course, she never did like sharing.

But first things first, how to make him her? She couldn't just walk up to him and tell him, from the little she knew about the teen he would probably take it badly, so she needed to build up to it. However, before she even start on that, Cinder knew she would need to make up for how she acted before, even if it was his fault…

Her eyes were slowly drawn to a package on the small table next to her chair, suddenly remembering why she had been looking for him before in the first place, as her usual smirk returned to her lips.

Yes…that would do perfectly….

XXX

Naruto was annoyed.

So, like he usually did then he was annoyed, the blonde teen threw himself into physical training in order to distract himself from thinking about what had annoyed him. He was in the small training area Cinder had had sent up, for both him and the others to use, and was in the middle of a set of pull-up.

There had even been a time when his method worked, but that was back before his workouts had become second nature to him and he could do they in his sleep, which according to Jiraiya had actually happened several times while they were on their training trip. He didn't ask too many questions about it…

The reason he was annoyed wasn't actually because of what Cinder had said to him, but because he should have known better then to talk about hooking up with two sisters to a member of the female population. It was like rule 3 of his Godfathers book 'how not to get your arse kicked by a woman for being a pervert'. While less well known then his porn books, it was still popular in the Nations back home, if the man had followed his own advice he might not have had his arse kicked all the time by pissed off women, it was the reason Kakashi never got more than glares for reading porn in public for crying out loud!

He should never have said anything and her reaction was understandable 'feminine fury', even if she had still been mostly composed at the time, to what she must of thought was him bragging about a conquest. Naruto had never been sort to brag about something like that, to this day he never told anyone about the times he had hooked up with Shion. But he was getting so used to talking with Cinder that he had said it without thinking, and it wasn't until after she left that he actually realised had happened, and by then it was too late to apologise because she had already left.

Letting out a sigh, knowing that working out wasn't going to help him, Naruto let go of the pole he had been using and fell to the hard ground with a dull thud.

The training area wasn't that big, and had been set up in what might had once been park of some kind before they cleared it out, replacing everything with exercise equipment. It spoke loudly of how long the people of Mountain Glenn had been holed up underground while they finished building the tunnel to Vale that they had taken the time to build a park.

It was because he was in the open that Naruto was able to see Cinder approaching before hearing her, the glass shoes were usually gave her away first, but it didn't really matter. He didn't miss the brown paper package in her hands as she approached him, but was more focused an trying to read her expression, the fact she had her usual smirk worried him a little.

While Naruto was sure he could take the girl with a little difficulty, after seeing Jiraiya beat up so many time because of feminine fury, the blonde knew to be scared of it. While a giant goof, the man had still been one of the strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations before his death.

Straightening out of his crouch, Naruto gave a small nod of acknowledgment to his current employer, and when she stopped in front of him decided to speak before anything bad could happen. Though he still kept his voice as neutral as possible.

"Miss Falls, I would like to apologise for what I said before, it was inappropriate and I shouldn't have said it. I understand that talking about my actives last night might have upset you-"

"You can relax, Mr Grim, I'm not here to set you on fire or anything."

"…you're not?"

"No…in fact after taking some time to think, I realise I may have overreacted myself, and wanted to apologise."

"…you did?"

She let out a small chuckle, her smirk only growing slightly at his reaction, seeming to enjoy it more then she should.

"Don't sound so surprised, I am a reasonable person, I don't set people on fire for no reason."

"Two days ago you set one of Junior's men on fire for spilling tea on your dress while he was handing you the cup."

"Like I said, I don't set people on fire without good reason, and that was a good reason."

Naruto sweat dropped under his hood, not sure how to respond to that, so instead decided to play it safe and just not say anything more about it.

Seeming to see this, Cinder's eyes glowed for a moment in amusement, before holding the package in her hands out to him.

"Here, I had this made for you a while ago and Junior sent it me this morning, you can think of it as a peace offering. I was going to wait to give it to you as a goodbye gift when our contract over, but changed my mind…"

Naruto was suddenly reminded of something very similar to what was happening right now to something that happened when he was traveling with Jiraiya, where they had run into a women he had slept this several years before, and instead of kicking his arse like all the other had smile and given him a present she claim she never got to before he left her…it hadn't ended well. The present had been a live skunk, and his godfather had stank for a week before the smell faded, Naruto could still remember his nose burning.

After that Jiraiya had explained to him that when a woman smile when she should be pissed, it was time to run in the opposite direction…fast.

Eyeing the package warily through the lenses of his mask, Naruto slowly and carefully took it from Cinder's hands, her amused smirk telling him she knew he was being paranoid. Holding it away from his body as if expecting it to explode, the blonde carefully pulled the paper apart, only for his eyes to widen slightly at what he was now holding.

The was a dark grey cloak, the same shad and length as the one he was wearing, and always wore when in his Grim persona. It was made from a lighter material then the one he already had, feeling almost weightless in his hands, and the inside was pure black. He also noticed that covering the shoulders, hood and down the back alone the spine were white patterns similar to the once on Cinder's dress. However unlike the dress, were the symbols seemed almost like lines of fire, these ones were more like wind.

The moment he saw them, Naruto knew exactly what he was holding, Dust Cloth. This cloak had Dust woven into the material, the same as Cinders dress, must have cost a small fortune.

"I thought it would suit you, seeing as like myself you prefer to rely on the Element of your Semblance, and had it made with White Dust. It will enhance the power and your control over your Semblance, much like my dress does for me, and even matches your usual cloak."

"…why would you-"

"I don't need a reason for why I do things, I just do them, now are you going to try it on or not."

Smiling under his mask, Naruto was about to do just that, before he realised if he did Cinder would see his hair and might be able to recognise him if she ever ran into him while he was 'Naruto'. He was about to ask her to turn around, when he saw the smirk on her lips and look in her eye…she planned this…clever girl.

Deciding to have a little fun with her, Naruto quickly pulled off his old cloak with a swish, making it flare out in front of him and block her view. By the time the cloak fell away, the new one was already on his body, and the look on her face when she realised she had missed it was priceless.

"How does it work? I've never really used Dust before, let alone Dust Cloth."

Her smirk returning, alone with the gleam in her eyes, Cinder moved to stand behind him before pressing herself into his back.

"Here, let me show you…"

Naruto gulped as he felt her press herself closer to him, her lips inches from his ear as her chin rested on his right shoulder, before she reached around and grabbed both his wrists with her hands. She slowly brought his hand up in front of him, palms facing forward, and pointed them towards an empty building about a hundred feet away from where they were stood.

"Coat your body in your Aura, so that's it's like a second skin, and the Dust Cloth will absorb it. The cloth with then start to glow when it has enough power, and then convert the Aura it absorbed into wind, just like how you use your Aura to activate your Semblance. For a normal person this would give them limited control over wind, mostly blunt force or even create a small tornado, but for people like us with Elemental based Semblance…"

She let the sentence hang in the air as Naruto started to glow, doing as she had told him to, and the white designs on the cloak started to light up, a small breeze picking up around them as the power built up.

Over the last year Naruto had spent most of his free time learning to control his Semblance, and for the most part he now could, but there were still things he struggled with. While he could handle small thing like his head bubbles and wind blades, he still couldn't control larger attacks, and had caused more than one storm while trying. The larger the attack, the more effort it took him to contain it, and if he lost control they would simple become self-sustaining tornados.

After all, Wind was free, and couldn't be contained for long before burst out of control.

Using his Semblance had always felt natural to Naruto, like an extension of himself, but also tended to fight him at every turn. But right now, with the Dust Cloth to help him…there was no way he could describe it.

The Wind wasn't simple an extension of himself anymore, there was no fighting for control as he let the power build up as Cinder took her hand away from his wrists and stepped back, there was nothing separating him from it. It wasn't like he was controlling the Wind, but more like he _was_ the Wind! Smirking behind his mask, Naruto activated his Semblance, sending another burst of wind out from his body.

Instead of aiming at the building, Naruto focused the Wind to gather in front of him, where it began to form a mini tornado about a big as he was tall. Smirk growing into a full blown grin at how much easier it was then usual, the blonde added more into it, making the tornado double in size. The he added more, the wind started picking up around him, collecting more dust and rubble from the ground and pulling it into the tornado.

By the time he stopped adding power to it, he was stood at the base of a full blown tornado, the Wind whipping at his lose cloak and noise blocking out all other sound.

XXX

Cinder remembered the first time she had used Dust Cloth, the feeling of control it gave her over her Semblance, over Fire itself. It had been mind-blowing, addicting even, the power it gave was something she had never found using other forms of Dust weaponry.

But that was also the reason it was rarely used anymore, and was considered an Arcane Art, as certain branches of Dust use had been know as in recent years. Dust Cloth was highly addictive, even more so for people her herself and The Grim who had Element based Semblance, and while not harmful to the user was also extremely expensive. The process and time it took to make enough to be used for clothing, not to mention the skill required, was more than most Hunter's and Huntress' could afford.

The first time she had used Dust Cloth, which had been in the form of a scarf, the high it gave her had allowed her to burn everything in a hundred meter radius of herself to the ground and had left nothing but ashes. Before that, the most she could do was form fireballs, and while hot they had been nothing compared to what she could do now.

Cinder had expected there to be some kind of reaction to him using the Dust Cloth for the first time, which was why she had pointed him towards an empty building and backed away after explaining what to do…and coping a feel. She had expected a blast of Wind strong enough to destroy the building, maybe a few others behind it if he was as strong as she expected, but this was ridicules.

She had never heard of someone actually creating and controlling a tornado like this, and it was under his control, the funnel of Wind while big hadn't actually moved since he had created it. But after getting over her shock Cinder's smirk returned full force, and despite the Wind pulling at her own Dust Cloth dress and hair, moved to stand next to the mercenary.

She was still forced to yell to be heard over the roar of the wind, even when stood not a foot away from him.

"I'm impressed!"

Even with his mask covering his face, Cinder could feel the smirk on his lips as his head turned slightly to look at her.

"This is nothing…I always wanted to see it this would work!"

Before she could ask what he mean, The Grim moved his hands so one was over the others, the tornado shifting slightly as he seemed to be trying to actually shape it. He continued to move his hands as if there was a ball between them, the funnel of Wind slowly following the movements, before ending up as a giant sphere.

He didn't stop there however, as with same strain visible in his now shaking hands, the Wind user start to bring his hands together. The Sphere continued to get smaller and smaller, once again following the direction of the teens hands, and but the closer his hands got the harder it seemed to become. By the time his hands were cupped together, the sphere had been compressed to the size of a baseball, and was hovering in front of them.

XXX

Even with his new control that the Dust Cloth gave him, compressing the tornado into such a small sphere was harder than Naruto had expected. He was panting, with sweat falling down his face, but he still kept his hands together and held out in front of him towards the sphere.

Without looking away for fear of breaking his concentration, Naruto grit his teeth, speaking without moving his jaw as the effort got harder by the second.

"Y-ou are able to create glass right?"

"Yes, by mixing Earth Dust with my Semblance…"

"Create a ball a-around the sphere to contain it."

"Are you sure that will work."

"H-ell no, but its better than letting this thing go inside an enclosed space."

He could feel the frown on the raven haired teens face as she stepped forward, why he thought this was a good idea in the first place was beyond him, he should have known better.

With a flash, the sphere was encased in a layer of blackened glass, which was quickly caught by Cinder before it could hit the ground. With a sigh, Naruto let his arms drop, suddenly feeling very tired.

Looking from the glass sphere to the surprisingly amused face of Cinder, Naruto could only smirk behind his mask.

"I may need a little more practice…"

XXX

After giving him a warning not to experiment without her to keep an eye on him, which The Grim quickly agreed to after almost losing control at the end of his impressive display, Cinder quickly left to find somewhere to store the glass sphere.

Despite telling him it was stupid of him to have compressed an entire tornado into a baseball sized ball Cinder was impressed, though it probably had something to do with the rush of using Dust Cloth for the first time, because until now he had been nothing if not smart. Her mind was already racing with ideas for what she could use this sphere for, even now Cinder could _feel_ the wind trapped inside moving, trying to find a way out, and it made her handle the fragile ball of glass with the utmost care.

She would need to arrange a trip into Grimm Country, somewhere far away from prying eyes, so she could see just what effect the compressed storm would have when released. If it was as powerful as she expected, they may have to see about making more, a portable windstorm might be useful in a pinch.

But until then, Cinder would be sure to keep it somewhere safe…where one of Junior's men couldn't accidentally brake it before she was ready for it to be broken. Though the fact all that power and force was being held in place by a thin layer of glass didn't make any sense to her, she knew sometimes it was better not to question things, it worked and that was all that mattered.

She had just turned a corner, out of sight of the mercenary, when she was met with the panicking faces of Emerald, Mercury and Roman as they came running towards her. Cinder took a moment to wonder where Neo was, but then remembered she had sent to girl out on a small job, and she wouldn't be back until the next day at the latest.

The three skidding to a stop when they saw her, almost knocking the sphere out of here hands.

"Watch where you're going! You almost made me drop it."

Emerald was the first to regain her breath, though was still panting slightly, as she looked at to ball for a moment before pointing in the direction Cinder had just come from.

"What…the…hell…was…THAT!"

Raising an eyebrow at the three, though inwardly she was laughing at their reactions, Cinder lifted the sphere up in front of her face as if she were examining a glass of wine.

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about, I merely gave Mr Grim a present and he decided to give it a test run. No harm no foul, and it lead to the creation of this beautiful little sphere here so…"

Seeming to calm down at her words, though still confused, the three finally turned their full attention to the ball she was holding. Stepping forward, Mercury even leaned in closer to get a better look, one of his eyebrows raising before he looked up at Cinder without straitening back up.

"And what exactly is it I am looking at here, and what is so special about a crystal ball when we just saw a tornado inside our underground base?"

Bring the sphere to her chest, away from Mercury's face, Cinder hugged it to herself as if it were the most valuable object in the world.

"This 'crystal ball', just so happens to contain that very tornado inside it, compresses down to the size of a baseball…"

Even the normally bored face of grey haired teen showed his shock at her words, before he quickly backed away as if afraid it was about to explode, his eyes wide. Emerald didn't look much better, and actually ducked behind him as if to use him as a human shield, much to the taller teens annoyance.

Surprisingly the person who had best reaction to the information was Roman, who actually step forward and held out his hand in silent question, and after hesitating for a moment Cinder handed it over. While he may get on her nerves almost constantly, if there was one thing Roman new it was potential weapons and how to market them.

In fact before she recruited him, he was a black-market arms dealer, and was the only one in her group with a criminal record. While it might have been a risk bringing him, the man definitely had his uses, and she was willing to let him examine the sphere.

She watched as he frowned slightly when he felt the slight vibration form the glass, before holding it up to his face and closing one eye as he to get a closer look, before both his eyebrows rose up and he handed it back to her.

"I assume you will be testing it in Grimm Country? I would like to be there when you do, I want to see the effects it will have when broken, and depending on what I see this could be very useful. But until I see just how powerful the release is, along with the effects, I can't so more with any confidence."

Smirking Cinder started walking away again, ignoring the still nervous expressions of the two teens as she passed them, Cinder looked back to the man before disappearing around another corner.

"Oh, I already have plans for what I can do with this, don't you worry."

XXX

Naruto watched from the roof of a building across the street as of the Dust shop as the five men in suits came running out with a suitcase in each hand, each filled with the dust they had just stolen, his form shadowed by nigh.

It had been two weeks since Cinder gave him his Dust Cloth cloak, and this time they were hitting a shop in Vacuo, and although it was a little deeper in the city limits then the first store they hit in Minstrel. Naruto had already told the men about a way in and out through the sewer system. It was one he had used several times in the past, and although it wasn't the nicest experience in the world, but it was fast and out of sight.

The only reason here was there was to make sure they didn't forget the directions he gave them, and if there were no problems he would stay out of sight, though he may stay to eavesdrop on the cops when they arrived. While this was only the second shop they had hit so far, and he doubted anyone would be able to make a connection, it never hurt to be careful.

While he had his mask on, Naruto had not worn his new Dust Cloth cloak, still needing time to get used to it before wearing it in the field. It wasn't that he couldn't control the power boost it gave him, if anything it made it easier for the blonde to control his Semblance, but the fact he couldn't control himself yet.

From what Cinder said Dust Cloth had several side effects, the fact it was highly addictive being the main one, but that also included effecting the personality of the person wearing it and until he could control himself he wouldn't risk it. In Naruto's case, it caused him to become reckless, causing him to act without thinking. Cinder told him that when she first started using it, the Dust Cloth had made her more destructive, willing to set fire to things simple to watch them burn.

Not that it was enough to stop him using it, even after only using it a few time, Naruto already knew he was addicted. Even now, he could feel his skin crawling, a slight itch in the back of his head making him want to wear his other cloak. It wasn't bad enough to effect his skills or work, yet at least, but it was annoying. Now he understood why Cinder always wore her dress, if he was having withdrawal symptoms already, how bad would it be for her after using it for years.

Naruto really didn't know what to think of the raven haired teen anymore, he had noticed a change in her since the day she had given him his Dust Cloth cloak, several in fact. While she still seemed to be teasing him, it wasn't the same as before when she was trying to seduce him into doing what she wanted, and the way her eyes lingered on him when she thought he wasn't look sent a shiver down his spine. She hadn't mentioned the idea of him staying passed his contract for several days either, and while he was used to her asking him for advice from time to time, now she brought him in on everything.

Then there was the fact that on his last two days off, she had stopped him from leaving to offer to help him train more with his Dust Cloth cloak, and even though it was always his choice Naruto always had the feeling it would be in his best interests to except the other.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Naruto refocused on what was happening on the street, his eyes quickly finding the henchmen just as the last one pulled the manhole cover back in place as he climbed down into the pipe.

Nodding his head, Naruto watched as the cops arrived not a moment later, before getting comfortable as he settled in to watch them before taking his leave. Cinder wasn't expecting him back for a while yet, and he had nothing else to do.

XXX.

**Hope you like the chapter :)**

**R&amp;R :)**


	7. A Different Mask

**Hey, just a heads up the next chapter might take a while, I am having problems typing at the moment so it takes longer to get chapters done. Basically I can't use either of my index fingers at the moment due to swelling, not sure why they are swelling but oh well, and am basically typing with just my middle fingers. I never knew just how much I used my index fingers to type until now, it is really irritating.**

**This chapter is where we will be getting into the first season, at last, though I already have plans for a few changes.**

**I hope you enjoy :)**

XXX

Disclaimer: I own Nothing :(

XXX

Chapter 7- A Different Mask

XXX

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Naruto frowned slightly as his eyes moved to the phone on the table, a phone that shouldn't be ringing, because there were very few people that even had the number in the first place. He was currently in the planning room with Cinder looking over the maps and trying to work out routes and escape plans for the next Dust Shop they were planning to hit, a small shop in Vale but with a large stock run by an old man, but that had a large stockpile of Dust.

It had been around eight months since Naruto started working for Cinder, and there actions had finally started to be noticed about a month ago, though the only one in the group to have been identified was Roman. The orange haired man had become the 'public face', not that he really care seeing as was already a wanted criminal, and now they were starting to aim for bigger prizes.

Over the last few months they had been able to fill several houses with Dust canisters and crystals, though in the last month they had doubled what they had, not needing to sneak around so as not to be noticed had sped up the 'collecting process', as Cinder liked to call it.

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Eye narrowing behind his mask, Naruto grabbed the phone, glancing at Cinder out of the corner of his eye to see her watching him with a raised eyebrow.

"Who is this and how did you get this number?"

"You gave it to me arsehole."

While it had been some time since he heard it, Naruto recognised the voice on the other end of the phone instantly, and his frown morphed into a smirk.

"Mr Taurus, I must admit I wasn't expecting to actually hear back from you-"

"I don't have time for pleasantries, so hut the hell up a listen, Human. I'm looking at thirteen train carts filled with Dust and Dust crystals, the engine his gone, and I figure we have about five hours before that train hits the nearest city and reports its missing cargo. If you want it, come get it."

His smirk only grew, maybe he was spending too much time around Cinder, and Naruto got to his feet while motioning for the raven haired girl to do the same.

"I see, can I assume this is your way of telling me the White Fang will agree to work with us?"

"Don't get cocky human, we expect to be paid for every speck of Dust on this train…any more we get for you."

"Of course, just tell me where I can find you, I we will come pick both you and the Dust up."

XXX

Several hours later, Naruto once again sat in the planning room with Cinder, though this time they had an added guest. Adam Taurus sat cross from him at the table, his arms crossed and his eyes locked on the blonde through his mask, a small frown on his lips.

True to the horned teen's words, upon arriving to the coordinates he gave them, they had found thirteen train cars Nine of which were stocked with Dust and Dust Crystals, the other three with robots, though they had already been destroyed by the time they arrived. They had cleaned out the carts within an hour, and after waiting for Adam to spray one of them with the symbol of the White Fang on the cart, were gone long before anyone else arrived on the scene.

Now, while leaving the others to organise the newly stolen Dust, Naruto and Cinder were trying to iron out the deal with the White Fang, both over the cost for the Dust they had just taken and for their continued service. It didn't help that Adam seemed more pissed off then the last time they had met, or that the cat girl wasn't there to calm him down, but Naruto let Cinder do most of the talking.

The woman had a silver tongue when she needed, and it was doing its magic as she explained what they were planning to do with the Dust, it's not like the wanted Faunus could say anything to anyone without being arrested.

When she had finished explaining, the room fell into silence, and after several minutes had passed Naruto decided to change the subject for a moment.

"Tell me, where is the girl who was with you the last time we met, your better half?"

His word only made the red headed teen growl lowly in the back of his throat, his teeth bared and hand balled into fists, Naruto wasn't sure what to make of it.

"The original fucking plan for the train was to just blow it up, we were working together up until the point where she cut the engine from the carts and abandoned me…"

This information surprised Naruto, even though he didn't know the girl, when they had first met she seemed almost glued to Adam's side. It made him wonder what could have happened to make her turn against him like that, though given the boys violent nature he could guess. Adam was going to blow it up with the people working in the engine still inside, and she had had enough of his indifference to killing.

Still, if he ever ran into her again Naruto would have to thank her, if she didn't abandon him Adam wouldn't have call him, he could tell that much.

XXX

Naruto sat patiently in the cockpit of the Bull head, Cinder at the controls, as they waited for Roman and the henchman he took with him to finish with the Dust store. Unlike what she usually wore, Cinder was dresses a black, skin-tight cloths with a mask similar to his own covering her face.

It had taken a lot of persuading, but Naruto had convinced her they her usual red Dust Cloth dress was too recognisable to be used for missions while she still wanted to remain anonymous, and though she wasn't happy about Cinder had eventually agreed. She was even going to use her glass fighting style more than her usual Fire to further throw people off her scent.

Having said that, she had still made him watch for two hours while she picked a new outfit, asking him for his opinion before frowning and changing into a different one. Girls could be so weird sometimes, but what was he going to do, she was still his boss for now and he needed to do as she told him. But saying that, Naruto really wasn't sure what Cinder was to him, a good friend maybe? After all, he did enjoy spending time with her, even if most of the time they were planning on how to start a war.

"_Hey, we got a problem, some kid with a scythe is going nuts and knocking the guys I brought with me around like ragdolls. I need a pick right now, she's right on my tail, and I'm on the roofs._"

Frowning at the radio as he heard Roman's words, Naruto unbuckled his seatbelt as Cinder started pulling them up, heading in the direct of the Dust shop while looking for any sign of the orange haired man.

"Did Roman really just say he was getting his arse kicked by a little girl with a scythe? Because that's what I heard from that…"

"Yes, it would seem so…"

"…Mercury and Emerald will never let him live this down."

Shaking his head as he moved to open the Bullhead door, Naruto was just in time to see the man they were looking for jump into plane as they were raising above the roof level. But before he could comment, the blonde's attention was brought to the girl standing on the roof the man had just jumped off, as she fired at them with a large red gun.

While he was too far back in the shadows to be seen, Naruto could still see her, and quickly took in every detail. She looked to be about fifteen, with shoulder length black hair with red highlights, black cloths and a red hooded cloak. The gun she was using looked far too big for her small body, but she seemed to be having little trouble as she fired at Roman, the weapon steady in her hands.

"Stupid kid…let's see how you handle this Red!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow under his mask as he watched Roman pull out a large red Dust crystal from inside his white jacket, before throwing it to the roof and taking aim his the gun inside his walking stick. The shot was perfect, and the crystal exploded, but the moment the dust clearly Naruto frowned at what he saw.

A new person had appeared on the roof, somehow shielding the girl from the blast, and was glaring up at them with fierce green eyes. She was blonde like him, but a paler colour, dressed like a school teacher with a black cape flapping around behind her and glasses. She was also holding a riding crop in her hand, which she was now pointing up at the Bullhead, before shards of ice formed in the air in front of her.

The shards shot forward as if from a cannon, and started hitting the hull of the plane, leaving dents in the metal from the force they hit it with. The Bullhead was being knocked around, shaking and tilting slightly, and Roman was soon forced to grab something to hold himself up.

"We got a Huntress! Do something already, that's your job right, stop her before she knocks us out of the sky!"

Letting out a small sigh, Naruto stepped forward so he was in the light and could be seen, and the moment he did the woman's eyes widened in shock. Her shock cause her to lose control of her ice, and the assault stepped as she stepped back in fear for a moment, before seemed to regain herself and glare up at him even more fiercely then before. The action actually impressed Naruto, lesser men and women had run away at the first sight of him, his reputation more than enough to scare all but the strongest or stupidest.

Naruto slowly reached into a pocket on the inside of his cloak, making sure the woman was watching him as he did, and carefully pulled out a very familiar looking sphere. It was smaller than the one he had Cinder had first made, no bigger than a marble, and definitely less powerful. But it would be more than enough.

"Hold on tight, it's about to get bumpy!"

Making sure he did it in a way that the Blonde woman could see what he was doing, Naruto held up the hand with the glass marble with his thumb under it, and flicked the little ball towards her. And a moment later, when it was about half way between them, she did exactly what he expected her to do and used a shard of ice to intercept it in the air.

The glass casing shattered on impact, and the moment it did gale force winds exploded out from the centre, knocking both the women and the girl off their feet. It also sent shockwaves through the Bullhead, making it shake even more so then when the woman was hitting it with her ice, before Cinder moved them out of the wind currents and started moving them further away.

Naruto watched as a mini tornado formed where the marble had been broken, before quickly fading away when it lost power, not being strong enough to keep itself sustained for more than a few seconds. By the time to two were back on their feet, the Bullhead was already of their range, and the last thing he saw as the doors closed was the wide silver eyes of the red hooded girl.

XXX

"I'm sorry, you want to what!"

They were once in the planning room, this time with everyone present, including the frowning Adam, though he wasn't one who was yelling. The only person not currently in the room was The Grim, though he would be joining them shortly, and Cinder couldn't wait when he did knowing what was going to happen.

Turning her attention to Emerald, who was currently on her feet with her hands on the table, Cinder gave her a carefree smirk as she pretended to check her nails.

"Like I already said, in order for us to ensure the plan goes smoothly, Mr Grim and I will be joining Beacon academy."

"B-but why?!"

"Because they are Vales main fighting force, and if we are to undermine the kingdoms standing with the other three, we need to start by working on the inside. I already had the necessary documents faked and sent in, and we are registered to start tomorrow with the other first years, with myself having taken a year out to help him get up to academic scratch when he arrived in Mistral. I have already checked and there are not enough people to form the usual four man teams with us attending, and it will be simple enough to ensure we are put together."

It was The Grim's idea to use his now destroyed former home in his documents, before he wondered into Mistral, a year ago, and after showing fighting skill Cinder was assigned to help him learn the basics so he could go to Beacon. According to the masked mercenary, it was better to create a cover based on half-truths, because it was easier to lie with actual emotions.

It was at that point that Mercury decided to throw in his thoughts, his feet up on the table and a bored expression on his face as he looked to the raven haired Fire user.

"While I understand your point, there is one problem with your plan, Mr Grim is a wanted mercenary. He can't exactly just walk up to Beacon and enrol, almost everyone in Remnant at east knows his description, and they'll spot him from a mile away."

"Which is way 'The Grim' will not be attending Beacon academy, Naruto Uzumaki will…"

All eyes turned to look at the source of the new voice in the room, only for most to widen in shock at what they saw, though Adam's were still hidden behind his mask. Stood in the doorway, the light behind him, was a boy in his late teens, with spiky blonde hair and blue eye.

His face was slightly round, though not from fat but because it was simple its natural shape, and on each cheek were three birthmarks that gave him the appearance of having whiskers. He was wearing a burnt orange sleeveless shirt, with baggy black pants, and a pair a dark grey gloves with white designs on them…Dust cloth.

She would admit, he had taken to using the stuff faster than most, though his addiction the material was also stronger too. It seemed he couldn't _not_ have some touching his skin for any amount of time before getting twitchy anymore, not that she was any different. Though Cinder was more in control of herself and could hide the withdrawal symptoms when she needed too, unlike the now named Naruto, at least for a few hours.

Cinder had been waiting since the first day they met to see The Grim's, or as she finally learn Naruto Uzumaki's, face. The desire had only gotten stronger after she decided he was her, but knew she needed to wait…it was definitely worth it.

"Holy shit, and here I thought you wear that mask because you were ugly…damn it I lost my bet with Emerald!"

Mercury's loud comment seemed to break the silence that had settled in the room, which was soon followed by the grin haired teen sending him a large grin, before giving Naruto a thumbs up. Cinder paid them no mind, her golden eyes lock on the blondes face, smirk on her lips.

"I must admit, you clean up nice, Mr Uzumaki. It's also nice to finally have a name and face, after knowing each other for so long now, it was starting to feel a little strange to keep calling you 'The Grim'."

She watched as his lips fell into a small frown, his eyes not meeting anyone's as he moved to his usual seat at the table, right next to her.

"This is the longest contract I have made before, and the situation calls for me to not hide my face to protect my cover for a change, it is unavoidable. Although I must admit I fell almost…naked without my mask and cloak."

They had actually been planning this for about two weeks now, though had not told any of the other until this moment, and although Cinder could think of several other way and people that could infiltrate Beacon academy she had another reason to do it this way. Even though they had been working together for more than half a year, this was still the first time she had seen his face, and she only knew his name before now because she needed it for the fake forms.

Things between them were moving…slower, than she would have liked, but by going to Beacon she had a chance to further things along. Knowing he was hers was ok, by the fact he didn't was making things difficult, and Cinder was only a few weeks away from reaching her breaking point.

Then there was the best part of this little mission they were going to be doing, and another reason why she was going herself instead of send Neo or Emerald with him.

"Just remember our cover while at Beacon, if we are going to convince people we are dating you will need to loosen up. Who knows, you may even…_enjoy, _it."

He sent her a blank expression for a moment, before Cinder's eyebrows rose to her hairline and her smirk faltered slightly. Right before her eyes, in a matter of seconds, Naruto's body language completely changed. His eye seemed to shine with mirth, his mouth spreading into a wide grin, and his body relaxed completely in his seat. It was almost as if she was looking at a completely different person, and when he spoke even his voice was different, full of happiness and laughter.

"Aww, don't you worry Cinder, I spent years perfecting my emotional mask. We are going to have so much fun going to school together I can't wait! Though I hope they have ramen…ramen is _the_ best food, like ever!"

The others in the room seemed just as shocked as her at the normally stocked mercenary suddenly acting like an idiot, sounding more like an overexcited kid then the merciless killer he really was. It was actually disturbing.

"That has got to be one of the creepiest things I have ever seen, I think it might actually give me nightmares, there are some things that should just not be and that is one of them."

Silently agreeing with Roman, though she never looked away from the still grinning blonde, Cinder felt her smirk returning quickly. She was going to have so much fun breaking him, the thought sent shivers down her spin, her eye glowing slightly in anticipation.

XXX

Naruto was impressed by the sheer size of the Bullhead that was being used to transport the new students to Beacon, and the glass walls gave a good view of everything below them as they passed, though the skinny blonde guy puking into the bin to his right was a little off putting.

He was stood next to Cinder, who was dressed in her usual Dust Cloth dress while she lean her back against the glass, and was already memorising all of the faces around them. Though he was surprised to see the same red hooded girl from the other night stood next to a taller blonde girl, he thought she was younger than seventeen. Maybe she just had on of those faces.

As he was doing this, Naruto made sure to keep a large grin on his face, waving at anyone that glance in his or Cinders direction. He was trying to give off the same, open and trust feeling he had before coming to this world, the one that always seemed to make people trust him. Though from what he could see, so far it only seemed to weird people out, and they would quickly look away.

Either he was out of practice, or his charm only worked on people he got to know, Naruto had never really paid that much attention to the effect he had on people before.

Sending another glance to the small red hooded girl and the blonde bombshell, Naruto's grin got a little bigger as he saw them watching the puking boy, before turning to Cinder and speaking in an overly loud voice. Just encase anyone was watching them, he was going to be keeping up his act most of the time, just to be safe.

"Hey Cinder, I'm going to go have some fun, want to come with me?"

He saw her eyes move to look at him for a moment, her smirk growing ever so slightly, before giving a small shake of her head.

"No, I'm fine staying here, thank you."

"Aww come on, I'll let you help!"

"No, thank you Naruto…"

Giving her a large pout, Naruto's grin quickly returned, before he shrugged and turned away.

"Fine, but it would be more fun if you came too…"

The blonde walked away, moving towards the puking boy with his head in a bin, before changing into an overly exaggerated sneak as he got closer. He saw out of the corner of his eye the two girls watching him, the smaller with a confused expression on her face, but the blonde seemed to realise he was up to something and was grinning at him.

When he was right behind the boy, who was still yet to take his head out of the bin, Naruto put his hands together and gave a small bow to his back, as one would see martial artistes to before a fight. He then followed this by kicking his fellow blonde in the arse hard enough to send him face first into the bin he was still puking in, making the poor guy let out a pained and startled yell, his legs kicking around in the air wildly.

The blonde girl burst out into loud laughs, point towards the scene with one hand while holding her stomach with the other, before just falling to the ground altogether. Even the red hooded girl was giggling into her hand, though she was trying to hide it, her face turning almost as red as her cloak.

Sending the two a large grin and happy wave, Naruto turned his attention back to the now stuck blonde teen, and taking pity on him grabbed one of his ankles and pulled him out. It wasn't a pretty sight, because the boy was now covered in his own puke, his hair sticking up in random directions with chunks of…something, stuck in it.

Naruto quickly set the boy back on his feet, being sure to avoid touching any of the puke, before giving him a pat on the back. Only for the boy to fall over and hit his face on the floor, which was followed by a groan of pain…this guy was _really_ weak.

"Sorry about kicking you into the bin, but you left yourself wide open, if I didn't do it I'm sure someone else would. Rule number 1, never turn your back on a ninja!"

Letting out another groan as he got up, the blonde teen rubbed his now sore face with one hand, a small frown on his face.

"No one else would have done that! What kind of person does that to someone else! And why did you knock me on the ground after…wait, did you say ninja?"

Letting out a chuckle, his arms behind his head, Naruto leaned back slightly with a grin.

"I'm telling you it was just too good an opportunity to pass, and I didn't knock you over, you're just really weak!"

His words seemed to hit the blonde like a physical blow, before his shoulder slumped and he looked almost ready to cry, Naruto would have felt sorry for the guy it if wasn't so funny.

"Hey cheer up, you've got plenty of time to get stronger!"

"You really think so?"

"Of course, the team placement aren't until tomorrow morning, you have all of today and tonight to get strong enough that you don't die in the test!"

What started off as seeming to be an inspirational speak, ended up only making the boy more depressed, though that didn't last long before he was forced to turn his attention back to the bin. While the short conversation seemed to distract him from his airsickness for a moment, it quickly came back with a vengeance.

Naruto only grinned at the boy, before turning to walk away, but not before calling over his shoulder to the boy.

"See you around Vomit boy!"

His only response was a pained groan, followed by the sound of more puking, before he moved to stand in front of the two girls from before. The blonde was still laughing, and the red hooded girl was trying to hide a smile behind her hand.

"That was hilarious, I can't believe you actually kicked him into the bin!"

Smiling at his follow blonde, she even had the same shade as him, Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a chuckle.

"What can I say, it was just too big a target not to take advantage of."

Returning his smile, the blonde held out a hand to him, introducing herself and the other girl.

"Name's Yang, and this is my baby sister Ruby, I get the feeling you and I will be getting along just fine."

Naruto took her hand and shook it with enough strength to shake her whole body, actually lifting her off of her feet several times before, before grinning like nothing happened.

"Hi, I'm Naruto, I can't believe I'm finally going to Beacon! I'm going to be the best Hunter ever, believe it!"

Both girls could only smile at his loud declaration, though Ruby seemed unsure of how to react, before the smaller girl spoke.

"You see very…excited…"

"Of course! I mean sure I'm starting a year late, having took a year out to train more, but me and Cinder are going straight to the top!"

"Who's Cinder?"

"Oh, Cinder's my girlfriend, that's her over there."

Pointing over his to his raven haired boss, Naruto made a show of waving to her, ignoring the glare she was sending him and the two girls.

Yang however, didn't ignore it, and Naruto saw her get an uneasy smile on her face.

"You mean the girl trying to kill me and Ruby with her eye…"

"Yeah, she gets a little territorial sometimes, and doesn't like it when I talk to other girls…but don't worry she wouldn't actually do anything. I mean there was this one time she set a girl on fire, but it was an accident, she was aiming for a fly and just caught the girl's hair. She even stomped on the flames to put them out when they started spreading."

The fact he said this without losing his smile, or the innocent expression, only seemed to scare the two more. It also didn't help when Cinder sent them a smirk, as if she had heard every word, before lifting a finger and making a small flame spring to life over it.

Naruto continued to act as if he didn't notice any of this, his smile still in place, as the silence continued for a few more seconds before he broke it. Turning to look at Ruby, who looked terrified he was about to speak to her, Naruto pointed at her to emphasis his words.

"So…why are you so short? You don't even look seventeen."

"I'm fifteen…"

"Oh…then you're not actually that short after all…good to know! Anyway I better get back to Cinder, I feel bad for leaving her on her own for so long, see you both around!"

The moment he turned his back to the two teen, Naruto's smile became a smirk, one that was matched by Cinder a moment later when their eye met.

The plan was for Naruto to seem like the lovable idiot at you could trust, and while he was going to be downplaying his abilities, he would keep them in the top five. Cinder on the other hand was going to be the scary girlfriend that stopped people looking too deeply into his life, though Naruto thought she could have done that as his friend, but she wanted to be furrow.

It made no difference to him on way or another, he was here for a job, not fun.

XXX

Cinder wasn't sure what to think of the 'mask, Naruto was using, but couldn't deny it was perfect. If she didn't know he was The Grim, there was no way you could connect the grinning idiot to the most dangerous mercenary in Remnant. But that was the thing, it was almost _too_ perfect, the way he fell into his role.

She saw the way people reacted to his openness, even if at first it made them uncomfortable, he seemed to have people eating out of his hands after only minutes of speaking to them. Even the guy he kicked into the bin full of puke didn't actually seemed to care after he spoke to him.

It showed a new side to the blonde, more manipulative then she would have expected, but she liked it. She was also enjoying being able to keep other girls away from what was hers, without the blonde actually know, it gave her a sense of power over him that sent a shiver down her spine. And the added excuse to be close to him in public made her smirk. She would tell him that he was hers eventually, when she was sure he couldn't get away, but until then she would just enjoy the power.

Her smirk grew when she saw the blonde and red hooded girls string at her with pale face even as Naruto walked back over, letting the flame go out the moment he turned back to face her and pretending to act innocent.

Who knew messing with people could be so much fun.

XXX

**There will be a flashback later to explain what happened with the larger sphere, at least I am planning on it at the moment, but I might change my mind and do something different to reveal the effects. Though I am sure people will be able to figure out what would happen to some extent.**

**Hope you like the chapter :)**

**R&amp;R :)**


	8. Being Rewritten!

ok, so long story short this fic is being rewritten under the name 'The Grimm'. I will be posting the first two chapters in a few days.


	9. Rewrite is up

First two chapters of the rewrite are posted. check my profile for 'The Grimm'.


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